How We Met
by Peach Wookiee
Summary: A series of short stories by Peach Wookiee and 15animefreak15, telling how three Duel Academy couples met and fell in love. Set in the "A Guy's Worst Nightmare" Yugi-verse with their OCs. Tale #3: Bailan... Tyson "Tyranno" Hassleberry and Rosa Jimenez.
1. Prologue

How We Met: Prologue

_Hello again, GX fans! Welcome to a series of stories occurring in the "A Guy's Worst Nightmare" Yugi-verse! The stories will tell how three young Duel Academy men met the women of their dreams, as Jaden and Alexis's story has already been told. So we hope you enjoy this short series. As usual, Peach and 15animefreak15 don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX; they just like playing in the universe. They do claim ownership of Annie Hanson, Violet Haverbrook and Rosa Jimenez._

Every love story, great and small, has a beginning. Some people meet in the heat of battle; others meet on a crowded street corner. Some couples meet purely by accident; others meet because it was arranged. Still others meet in school, be they private or public. The students can be in elementary school or as old as in graduate school. The romances can be as short as a couple of hours or as long as a lifetime. The jock may get the pretty girl, or she may choose the nerd, finding him to be the more understanding and loving man who looks at her as more than a pretty thing to wear on his arm.

The next stories you are about to enter are of high school students who found the great loves of their lives at a place called Duel Academy. One couple's story of how they met and fell in love is very well known, but the other three couples' stories have not been told…until now. The three stories you are about to see are about Syrus Truesdale and Annie Hanson, Bastion Misawa and Violet Haverbrook, and Tyson "Tyranno" Hassleberry and Rosa Jimenez. Please enjoy this glimpse into their beginnings.


	2. Purple Shyness Part I

Purple Shyness Part I: Syrus Truesdale and Annie Hanson

_Authors' notes: We don't own GX. We own our OCs and this story idea. Finally, this story starts in Episode 3 of GX. Further, you will all see that Annie has a bit of a temper, calling Dr. Crowler "the man-lady" when she's mad at him._

It was the first day of school at Duel Academy in the year 2016 when everything was looking up and everyone was finding their way around. Fourteen-year-old Annie Hanson was no exception. "Oh, great," she sighed, finding her first period class with Dr. Vellian Crowler and sitting down with fellow first-year and Obelisk Blue, Alexis Rhodes. "Hey, Alexis."

Alexis smiled. "Hey, Annie. How's your first day been going so far?"

"Well...I ate breakfast and found my first class all right," Annie said. "I just wish my roommate had this class this period..." she said. Violet Haverbrook was absolutely great in Annie's mind. They had instant messaged each other throughout the summer when they'd found out they were roommates and struck up a friendship. "But I'll see her later, I guess...Oh, here's the...teacher?" she said, looking at Dr. Crowler for the second or third time. "Is that a guy or a lady...or...is he a transgender individual?"

Alexis' eyes widened, but she was able to stop her jaw from dropping. It was extremely hard to tell whether Dr. Vellian Crowler was a male or a female. "Er...I really have no idea, Annie..."

"Wow...if he's transgender, that's okay. He must want to be a lady," Annie commented.

Alexis sweat-dropped. "Annie, be careful how loud you say that. I've heard from some of the second and third year students that he's really strict."

Annie looked at her. "I'm open-minded. If he is," she whispered, "more power to him." And then Crowler looked around at the new students and at some of the Ras and Slifers with a little disgust. 'He doesn't like them,' Annie thought, furrowing her brows slightly. Alexis noticed this as well, and sighed. The older students she'd talked to had also mentioned his favoritism with the Obelisks, but she'd hoped that part had only been a rumor.

This was confirmed a few minutes later. Alexis had just answered a question perfectly about the grouping of Duel Monster cards. "Perfect! Well done, Alexis! Of course I wouldn't expect anything less from one of my blue Obelisks," Dr. Crowler praised.

Alexis blushed a little at the compliment. "Thank you, Dr. Crowler." And then she sat down, but didn't really like the comment he'd made. 'I'm sure Slifers and Ras can't be all that bad...' she thought.

Crowler looked around for the next person to be questioned. He called on the little blue-haired Slifer. "Explain to the class what a Field Spell is, please."

Syrus stood, extremely nervous. He knew what it was, really he did. But Syrus couldn't form the words with Dr. Crowler's strong gaze on him. "It, well, uh...I-I mean it..." he stuttered as some of the other students started laughing.

"Even a pre-dueler knows what that is, Slifer Slacker!" one Obelisk boy with a Tennessee accent called out.

Annie looked daggers at him. 'Oh, that jerk!' she thought, clenching her fists. And then another Slifer Red boy stood up for the other one, slamming Crowler in such a way that he couldn't get detention for doing so.

"Well, teach, I don't think you should be so tough on him. I'm a Slifer and I beat you..." Jaden Yuki pointed out.

This caused the class to laugh even more, and Syrus was relieved a bit as he sat back down. Alexis smirked. 'He's kind of cute...and he beat a teacher, too. I have to see his skills up close...' she thought.

Annie, however, was furious. "How could he do that?" She muttered this low enough that Crowler couldn't hear it, but Alexis could.

Alexis snapped back to reality at Annie's question, shaking her head a bit. "H-Huh? Oh, uh...I don't know, Annie..." she mumbled, blushing a little.

"Sorry, it just makes me so mad! No teacher has a right to humiliate a student like that!" she whispered back.

The remainder of the period was rather uneventful, and finally the bell rang. Alexis gathered her things and stood, turning to Annie. "Hey, Annie, what class do you have next?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Syrus was busy trying to wake Jaden up so they could get to their next class. "Jay, come on, the bell rang..."

Jaden muttered in his sleep, "Come back here, dueling pizza!"

Annie looked at Alexis. "I have class with Professor Banner next!"

"That's good, I hear he's a fun teacher. Plus, I have him next, too," she replied happily.

By now most of the classroom had cleared out, and Syrus shook Jaden's arm. "Jaden! Come on, we can't be late!!"

Annie looked back, but couldn't catch the blue haired boy's eye. "Alexis? Who's that blue-headed boy?" she asked as they walked with Mindy Carrington and Jasmine Fairbanks.

Alexis blinked in surprise. "Oh, him? I think that's Zane Truesdale's little brother, Syrus."

"How long have you known him?" Annie asked.

Alexis smiled. "For a while, ever since Zane, Atty and I were kids. We used to hang out all the time at the playground..." Alexis sighed, frowning at the bittersweet memory.

"Your brother?" Annie asked. She'd heard Alexis had a brother, but hadn't seen him around school. She had, however, seen Zane.

Alexis nodded sadly. "He and Zane are both supposed to be seniors this year. But...Atty went missing with some other students at the abandoned dorm..."

"I'm sorry," Annie said gently, thinking of her own brother and what it might be like to lose him.

Alexis smiled a little. "It's okay, Annie. We'd better get going if we don't want to be late..." she replied. Alexis then noticed that the two Slifer boys were still in their seats, and blinked in surprise.

Annie was too nervous now. "Uh...they'll catch up...have you heard anything about Professor Banner?" she asked as they jogged to the next room. Annie waved to her roommate, too. "Violet, over here!" She was glad Violet had the next class with her and noticed Violet looked...happy and was being followed by a rather handsome Ra Yellow.

"ANNIE!!" Violet called happily, practically tackling her best friend in a hug. Indeed, she was excited, and a light blush was on her face.

Alexis sweat-dropped. "Uh, hi..." She hadn't met Violet yet, even though Annie had mentioned her.

"Oh, sorry, Alexis, this is Violet Haverbrook. Violet, this is Alexis Rhodes," Annie introduced. The boy was standing behind politely. "And you are..?"

"Bastion Misawa," the boy said in clipped British tones, "a pleasure. Violet, is this your friend you mentioned?"

She grinned. "Nice to meet you, Alexis! And yeah, Bastion. This is Annie Hanson, my best buddy and roommate," Violet explained.

Bastion shook the girls' hands. "Are you in Professor Banner's class?" he asked.

Annie nodded. "Yes we are, and I'm afraid we're going to be late..."

"All right, then, let me escort you, please," he said, following the girls. They got into class and in their seats on time and Professor Banner entered.

Violet was about to ask Annie why a guy had such long hair, when none other than the two Slifer boys from Dr. Crowler's class ran in. "Oh, Jay, I told you we were gonna be late..." Syrus whispered, embarrassed.

"Hello, children. I am Professor Lyman Banner. I will teach you things about dueling that some consider to be unnatural...Miss...Hanson? Is everything all right?" he asked.

Annie had a slightly frightened expression on her face. "Uh...no, sir...I just thought I saw a spider," she finished lamely. That wasn't what freaked her.

Alexis blinked, glancing at Annie. "You sure you're alright? You look pretty spooked..."she whispered.

In contrast to Annie's fear, Violet was pumped. "I love the unnatural!" she cheered, earning a few looks. Not like she cared.

When Professor Banner was talking about other things, Annie whispered to Alexis and Violet, "He quoted Emperor Palpatine..."

"Emperor who??" Violet asked, confused.

"The guy that was worse than Darth Vader in Star Wars..." Annie whispered.

Just then, the doors burst open at the top of the lecture hall. "Sorry we're late, Professor Banner!" Jaden Yuki shouted.

"Jaden, I expect you to be on time..." Banner stated.

'Great, we're late and on the first day!' Syrus thought as he and Jaden took their seats.

Annie looked over at the blue-haired boy, noticing how his face was about the color of his red blazer. 'He looks so cute...and handsome...' she thought.

It seemed all three girls were busy staring; Jaden had caught Alexis' attention once again and Violet couldn't keep her own eyes off of Bastion. 'Even when he's late he's just so...I don't know. There's just something about him...' Alexis thought.

'Even from the back he's handsome...' Violet thought.

Professor Banner talked about alchemy and then introduced his pet cat to the class when said cat decided to cuddle up to Syrus Truesdale. "Aw...a kitty cat!" Annie said before she could stop herself. Several students stared and Annie wished she could disappear as she turned bright red.

"Annie, would you mind taking Pharaoh for the period?" he asked.

Annie smiled. "No, sir, I'd be honored. I love cats."

"Excellent...that way Syrus doesn't become Pharaoh's scratching post..." He picked up the large ginger and brown feline and gave him to Annie to hold. Pharaoh purred.

"Violet, you should pet him..." Annie whispered, scratching Pharaoh behind the ears.

Syrus was blushing a little from the attention, but managed to finally notice Annie. 'Wow...she's pretty...' he thought, blush increasing a little.

Meanwhile, Violet and Alexis were both spoiling Pharaoh with their petting. "He's so cute..." Alexis whispered, smiling.

Violet was scratching Pharaoh under the chin, grinning. "Aw...reminds me of my kitties..."

Pharaoh stayed with the girls until the end of the period and leapt down, going to his owner. "Thank you for taking care of him...he seems to like you...and you, Violet and Alexis."

"Thank you, sir," Annie said. "Thanks for trusting us with him."

"My pleasure. Now I suggest you get to your next class?"

"Yes, sir." They each tripped up the stairs of the lecture hall, and Syrus and Jaden were kept back.

"I wonder why they were late," Violet wondered aloud as they left the classroom. Her curiosity always got the better of her in these sorts of situations.

"Maybe it took a while for that brown-haired boy to wake up. Isn't his name Jaden, Alexis?" Annie asked.

She nodded. "That's what Professor Banner called him when he came late, remember?" Alexis reminded her.

Violet suddenly let out a sigh of relief. "Wow, I feel better now that I know I wasn't the only one who slept during first period."

"Oh, were you lost because of that, Violet?" Bastion asked curiously.

Violet glanced at him. "Lost as in how...?"

"Er...when you were trying to find your way to class and found me instead?" Bastion asked.

She blushed a little. "Uh...maybe..." Violet mumbled. She never cared about anyone else's opinion before, so why was she always so careful around him??

"It's all right...as I said, it's easy to get lost 'round here...I know it's a great deal bigger than my old school...I wish I had a tricorder or something to find my way," Bastion laughed.

Okay, now Violet was really lost. "Uh, what??" she asked.

Annie looked at Violet and then at Bastion. "Oh, you're into Star Trek, also?"

"Why, yes..." Bastion answered in surprise. "You're into it, Annie?"

She nodded confirmation. "A tricorder is a neat scanner thing, Violet. They have it on Star Trek a lot. It comes with instant maps..."

"Sorry, not really one for science fiction...unless it has to do with aliens," she replied, grinning sheepishly. Violet glanced from her best friend to her new crush and sighed. "But between you two, my head is starting to hurt!"

"I can help you find the infirmary," Bastion offered. Fortunately, the classes went uneventfully the rest of the day and evening came. The girls decided to shower and/or enjoy the heated pool baths before bedtime. And then, there was a disturbance.

Annie was sitting at the window of her dorm room, getting on her purple cotton pajamas when she heard a yelp. "What the heck? Violet!" she called to her friend.

Violet was already in her pajama top, and was slipping into her bottoms when she also heard the yelp. She was so surprised that she tripped and face-planted into the carpet. "Annie, was that you?!" came her muffled reply.

Annie got her pajamas on the rest of the way and helped her friend up. "Yeah...I heard something out there..." She got Violet up and together they headed downstairs and outside where a crowd of girls had gathered. Annie looked over the crowd and saw what appeared to be...'Dr. Crowler in a wetsuit?' she thought in horror.

"A boy!" one of the girls shrieked.

"I'm not a boy, I'm a man, and...uh... You don't know me, you don't know me!" he yelped as he ran into the water.

"Ewww..." Annie groaned.

Violet was getting frustrated being behind the crowd, and jumped a few times to see over their heads. "Hey! Isn't! That! Syrus!" she yelled a word with each jump. Alexis heard Violet and turned her eyes, as most of the girls did, onto the short Slifer.

He paled, eyes going wide. "Uh..."

Annie gasped but couldn't get through the crowd to him. Mindy and Jasmine were wrapped in bath towels and got to the small Slifer before anyone else could except for Alexis. 'He looks so scared...' Annie thought. But there was nothing she or Violet could do. They had to head back up to bed and a couple of other Obelisk girls helped the three corral the Slifer. "I hope he's all right," Annie said as she and Violet returned to their rooms.

Violet frowned. "He might have gotten away if I hadn't opened my big mouth. I just didn't think the other girls would react that way..."

Annie sighed. "No, somebody else yelled before you did. And I think I saw Dr. Crowler. He's a guy...he's definitely a guy," she shivered. That wetsuit had left nothing to the imagination.

Violet blinked. "Crowler was there?? I didn't see him..."

"I did...unfortunately; he was wearing...a black wetsuit..."

Violet's eyes instantly twitched at the very thought. "On second thought, glad I didn't see him. I hope you're not scarred for life."

"No, but arrr...that be replacin' the white whale in me nightmares," Annie said in a pirate's voice. "That wasn't pretty..."

She cracked up at Annie's "white whale" statement, as they finally got back in their room. "Well, let's just hope that's the last time anyone will ever have to see him in a wetsuit."

"Yeah...me too..." Annie went to the window and sat down, worried. She saw Alexis and her friends, Mindy and Jasmine leave with a frightened Syrus and return not quite an hour later without him. "Violet, we need to go and find out what happened." Footsteps outside the room told Annie she wasn't the only one curious at the outcome.

Violet glanced up from her book and sighed, hopping off the bed. "All right, all right. I have to admit I'm a little curious, too," she replied.

The girls all headed downstairs to where Alexis and the other girls were and Annie got to the top Obelisk girl. "Alexis," she asked when the other girl, Mindy and Jasmine were in the room, "what happened?"

"We caught Syrus sneaking around out here. But when we learned that he was tricked, I decided to use him-uh, I mean, call Jaden to come get him. And...we dueled." She blushed lightly.

"You used him as bait? Is Syrus all right?" Annie asked, eyes wide with horror and a little anger.

Alexis face-faulted, and then sweat-dropped. "We didn't hurt him or anything, Annie..."

"What were the terms of your duel?" Annie asked, not too happy.

Alexis grinned sheepishly, hearing the tone in the other Obelisk's voice. "Well, if Jaden won, they could go. But if he lost, we'd report them to Chancellor Shepherd..."

"You scared him...That wasn't very nice." Annie looked at Violet, who was standing in her pajamas along with the other Obelisk girls. "Violet?"

Violet stepped over to stand beside Annie in her pink Watapon pajamas, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Annie, if you're so upset by it, then talk to him tomorrow. I'm sure Alexis didn't mean to scare him," she coaxed, smiling.

"I'm going down to Slifer now. I'm going to check on him..." Annie, who had been frowning, smiled in an impish way. "You'd go check on Bastion, wouldn't you?"

Violet was about to object since it was so late, but choked on her own blush. "A-Annie! Oooh..." She turned on her heel and stalked off back to their room, sending glares at the few girls who giggled.

"Just cover for me. I know I saw the man-lady earlier..."

"The...man-lady?" Jasmine asked.

"I think she means Dr. Crowler," Mindy answered in a rare moment of brilliance.

Alexis blinked in surprise at her friend's rare moment, and sighed. "All right, Annie. But be careful. You don't want to get caught this late at night," she warned. She and Annie might be at odds at the moment, but there was no way she wanted the girl expelled.

"Yeah, I know...I'm going out my window..." Annie ran upstairs, glad her room was somewhat low to the ground.

--Annie's imagination-- "Violet! Help me into the catsuit!" Violet helped Annie into a slinky black catsuit, and she gracefully sneaked out the window and made her way safely across the academy grounds while accompanied by the Mission Impossible theme... –End Annie's Imagination--

--Reality-- Annie got out the window in her lavender capri pajamas...and fell into a bush. Violet, now reading her book on a chair by the window, glanced down at Annie. "I give you a 10 for the idea and a 3 for the landing!" she called.

Annie struggled out of the bush. "Ouch...why doesn't this work like in the movies?" She got up, brushed herself off and looked up at Violet. "Remember, if I die, you avenge my death. If I'm caught...I'm on sleep medication and it makes me do strange things!"

Violet nodded. "Don't fall in the lake! Or worse, off that cliff by the Slifer dorms!! It's kind of hard to get revenge on a lake or a cliff. But I get your stuff, right?" she called eagerly.

"Yeah...my Star Trek and Star Wars alien collection!" she called back and began to move. And so Annie sneaked through the darkness to the Slifer dorms. She saw which room he was in because he was just exiting to head to the bathroom. 'Now or never, Annie,' she thought, hands shaking. "Syrus?" she called out.

"AH! I'm sorry, it wasn't me, I swear!!" he yelped, jumping a foot into the air. His eyes were wide as he stared worriedly at Annie, afraid she was a disciplinary officer and the girls had told after all.

"It's...it's all right. I'm Annie Hanson. I'm an Obelisk Blue and...and I wanted to be sure you were okay. I saw what happened," she began shyly, standing in the shadows.

Syrus let out a relieved breath, returning his gaze to the girl. He couldn't exactly see her appearance since it was so dark. "Uh, thanks. I'm okay...just glad that Jay and I didn't get suspended..."

She moved into the light so he could see her clearly. She was in her pajamas and Syrus was in his pajamas, too. "I'm glad, too...I wanted to talk you earlier today, but I couldn't seem to catch you...you kept moving away..."

He blushed, both from the sight of her and from what she said. She was a little bit taller than he was and had brown hair, blue eyes and a rather curvy "hour-glass" figure. He decided that he'd better be honest with her. "Uh, well, I was nervous. I thought you might try to make fun of me like the other Obelisks."

Annie flushed. "Why would I do that? I don't know you yet and just because we're in different dorms doesn't mean I'm better than you or that you might or might not be...a friend?" she asked hopefully.

"Huh? Really? Y-You mean, you actually want to be friends with me??" he asked, shocked.

"Y-yeah...I do...could we...hang out at the snack shop tomorrow? I'd like to get to know you better...if that's all right with you..." She tapped her fingers together, shyly. A light blush came to her cheeks.

Syrus rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not used to this sort of thing. "Uh, sure, I guess. If it's okay with you, I mean..."

"Uh...yeah, that'd be great! And if that doesn't work...we could have lunch together...I've heard Professor Banner makes awesome fried shrimp..."

"Heh..yeah, he does. Either one sounds great. Uh, I'm Syrus, Syrus Truesdale. What was your name again?"

"Annie Hanson, pleased to meet you, Syrus Truesdale..." Annie blushed again. "I'm...really sorry I startled you, Syrus...and I wish Dr. Crowler hadn't done what he did earlier today...that was wrong. No teacher has the right to do that..."

Syrus blinked. "What do you mean?"he asked.

"The way he treated you in our first class and let that Obelisk boy make fun of you. That was wrong!" Annie said, a touch of anger coming in her voice.

He frowned. "Oh…that...well, we can't do anything about it, though. He's a teacher..."

"Yes, we can. If he does it again, I can take it to Chancellor Shepherd. Crowler has tenure, but misconduct can put him in jeopardy."

Syrus blinked again. "Uh...tenure??"

Annie blushed fire red, willing herself to remain conscious. "I did it again."

"Huh?"

"I...said something I probably didn't need to, and you probably think I'm weird now," she said sadly.

He tilted his head slightly, frowning. "I don't think you're weird. Just because you use a word I don't understand, that doesn't make you weird. Bastion seems to do that all the time."

Annie looked at him in shock. "R-really?"

Syrus smiled a little. "Yeah. People have problems understanding things a lot, but that doesn't make anyone weird."

"Oh...okay...well, tenure means basically that it's hard for someone to get fired," Annie explained. She liked this Slifer boy and knew she was falling for him.

"Oh." He had to admit that Annie was pretty, but in a different way than Alexis and Dark Magician Girl. Syrus couldn't understand why, but he was even more attracted to her than the other two combined.

"Gosh, it's different here..." she said, looking around. 'It looks like a nice summer camp,' she thought.

Syrus sighed. "Well, Slifer is the lowest rank, so I guess it gets the lowest respect and treatment. But I don't see why Jaden's here then; he beat a teacher..."

Annie looked at him. "I don't see why you should get lesser treatment...some of the Obelisks are downright stupid!"

He smiled again. "Well, we can't do anything about it. Not really..."

"I can try," Annie said. "So...how old are you? I'm fourteen..."

"I'm fifteen..."

"Ah...then you're about a year older than me...cool. Man, this was worth it," she said happily.

"What was worth it?" he asked.

"Sneaking out to check if you were okay...if I get caught, it was worth the risk."

Syrus blushed a little. "Well, we both should probably get back to bed. It's late and we have classes tomorrow," he mumbled.

"Oh, yeah...Well...I'll see you tomorrow, then...Syrus..." Annie said, impulsively hugging him.

His entire face went as red as his Slifer blazer, but for some reason he tentatively hugged back a little. 'I-I just got hugged by a g-girl! That wasn't m-my mom!!' he thought.

Annie pulled back and noticed his blush. "Oh, I'm sorry...I made you nervous! I just...I'm used to hugging people..."

"I-It's okay. Could you just, uh, w-warn me next time?" Syrus asked shakily.

"Uh...yeah, sure," Annie answered back, blushing now. "I'll...see you tomorrow, Sy...and if you need help waking up your friend...I can help with that, too..."

He smiled a little. "Okay. Thanks, Annie. See you tomorrow. Oh, and don't get caught!"

Annie smiled back, and made her way back to the dorm without incident, sneaking in the front door and making her way up the stairs to her room. "Violet!" she called when she was in the room.

Violet had somehow managed to fall asleep while reading in the chair, and now snapped awake. "Huh? What?? I'm up!" she shouted, falling out of it.

"Oh, Violet, I'm sorry...but...mission accomplished!"

Violet gave a thumbs-up from her spot on the floor, then sat-up. "That's great! So, did he ask you out yet?" she asked bluntly, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Uh...we're just going to be friends, Violet...and we'll eat a snack or lunch together tomorrow..." Annie smiled.

Violet pouted. "That's good and all, but now who am I supposed to eat lunch with?" she asked, knowing they'd want privacy.

"Well, you can hang out with us. Sy's really nervous around Obelisks. We're just going to be friends, Violet...I think...that's all he wants right now..." Annie said, blushing.

"Well, if he's nervous around Obelisks, then doesn't that mean more Obelisks will make him more nervous?" she asked. For once in her life she was being logical.

"Well...not if they're nice to him..." Annie answered.

Violet sighed. "All right. But I'm warning you now that he will get tackle-hugged by me. It's my natural form of greeting," she explained as she stood.

"Just warn him first. He was nervous when I hugged him..."

"Hmm...right! I got it now!! Well, I'm goin' to sleep. Goodnight Annie!" Violet replied jumping into her bed with a certain grin on her face.

"Night, Violet!" Annie said, climbing into bed and dreaming of the Slifer boy who she was sure had stolen her heart.

Meanwhile, Syrus headed to the bathroom quickly and then went back to the dorm room. He'd been gone a long time, so he knew his friends might be a little worried. "Sorry I took so long, guys…"

"It's okay, Sy. We did wonder where you were and it's late. I'd like to get some sleep this week," Chumley growled.

"Chumley, it's okay, he's back," Jaden said calmly. "What took so long, Sy? You feeling all right?"

"Um…yeah. I guess chili sauce on my ice cream didn't agree with me…" Sy wasn't ready to tell his friends about Annie just yet, so he lied. He climbed up into his bunk bed and when the room was quiet except for the sound of Jaden and Chumley's snoring, the blue-haired boy allowed himself a smile. He might tell them both in the morning. He wasn't sure what the future would bring with Annie, but he had a feeling it was going to be very good.

_Next time, Part II…the lunch meeting! Read and review!_


	3. Purple Shyness Part II

Purple Shyness Part II

_Here's part two, put up the same day as part one as this was originally intended to be a one-shot._

_Disclaimer and authors' note: We don't own GX; we just own our OCs and our version of the Yugi-verse._

The next day, Annie met Sy in class and helped him rouse the deeply sleeping Jaden Yuki with an air horn. "I'M UP, I'M UP!!" he shouted.

Syrus sweat-dropped. "You really couldn't think of anything else?" he asked.

"Ugh...My mom's done that..." Jaden groaned, head shaking like a gong when it's hit.

Annie smiled. "I just happened to have an air horn."

"Sy, who's this?" Jaden asked, smiling.

"Uh, this is Annie Hanson. I met her last- I mean this morning," he explained, grinning sheepishly. Syrus had nearly let it slip that Annie had snuck out to meet him.

Annie smiled at Jaden. "Actually..." She looked around to be sure no one of authority was around... "We met last night...I had to make sure he was okay after what happened with Alexis..." Her expression went a little bit dark.

Syrus blushed a little. "We talked for a bit...that's why it took me so long to get back."

Jaden grinned. "Yeah, I thought it took a while for you to come in from the bathroom...Well, nice to meet you, Annie...and...don't be mad at Lex, okay? She's cool. She was a good duelist," he added.

"HEY!! DO YOU GUYS WANT TO BE LATE AGAIN?!" called a voice. Violet was standing in the doorway, Bastion and Alexis by her side.

"We're coming!" Annie called up, grabbing her heavy book bag and moving up the stairs.

Syrus and Jaden followed her, and together the small group quickly made their way towards Professor Banner's class.

Violet yawned. "I fell asleep in first period again."

"Is that Professor Stein's class?" Annie asked curiously. "History of Dueling 101?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?" she asked.

"I almost fell asleep yesterday afternoon...how in heaven's name can he make the story of Atlantis so boring?" Annie wondered.

"You had the same trouble?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah...good thing I'm from Seattle. I know how to use coffee," Annie concluded.

"Maybe I should try that!" Jaden said, grinning.

"No!" almost everyone who knew Jaden said at once.

Violet sighed. "I don't like coffee, personally. I'll stick to the sugar kind of caffeine...like chocolate!"

"I don't drink coffee too often myself...I like tea," Annie commented. "But sometimes, I just need a cup. Like with Professor Stein...Professor Banner, though..."

"Yeah, he's great!" Jaden said happily.

"Yeah...I hope he brings up Nicolas Flamel," Annie said.

"The Harry Potter guy? Isn't he made up?" Jaden asked. Annie and Bastion shook their heads.

"When I was a kid, I used to try turning things into gold. Never really worked out though and Mom always got mad," Violet stated.

"Is it really possible to turn lead into gold?" Alexis asked.

"You'd have to alter its molecular structure," Bastion said thoughtfully. "It could be done...you'd just have to increase the atomic weight..."

Annie nodded. "Yeah...I'm interested in the Philosopher's Stone, too, but Dumbledore was wise...we do pick what's bad for us."

"I never was good at science...more of a math person..." Violet thought aloud. They all managed to get to class just in time, so none of them were late.

"Ah...excellent. You're all here on time today," Lyman Banner said. "Annie, would you like to hold Pharaoh? He seems to like you very much."

"Yes, sir...if he doesn't mind my friend Violet holding him, too," Annie said.

"Of course. Do you like cats, Miss Haverbrook?"

She grinned. "Yeah! I love cats!! I even have two at home!" If there was one thing Violet knew more about than Annie or even Bastion, it was her favorite animal, the _felis catus_.

Annie took the ginger cat with the funny tail and spread his ample frame across her lap and Violet's. Throughout the class period, Violet had most of her attention on Pharaoh. She did pay attention to the lesson, but couldn't keep her hands off the cat until Violet accidentally scratched a certain spot, and he bit her. She blinked, shock overtaking pain for a moment before she realized he wasn't letting go. "Uh...Annie?"

"Yeah, Violet? Oh, my! Pharaoh, that wasn't very nice," Annie gently scolded the large kitty.

Violet blinked; he was still holding on! Finally, the shock wore away and the pain hit her. "OW!! AAAHHH!! GET HIM OFF!!" she shouted, jumping to her feet. Even so, the stubborn Pharaoh seemed to like the taste of Violet's hand.

"Pharaoh, no!" Annie said.

"Is there a problem, ladies?" Banner asked, coming up. "Oh, Pharaoh, you naughty cat! Here, Violet...he's let go..." Banner quickly bandaged Violet's hand. "Annie, perhaps you'd better hold him..."

"Yes, sir." Violet sighed, glancing at her bandaged hand. For some reason she had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time he did that.

All too soon it was lunch period and the kids looked at each other. "So, where shall we eat?" Bastion wondered.

"We could all have lunch at Obelisk, or we could eat at the card shack and snack shop," Annie suggested.

Bastion looked down at the Ra dorms. "Oh, bloody...it's too crowded down at Ra, or I'd suggest there."

"How about Slifer?" Jaden suggested.

Violet grinned. "I've wanted to try their fried shrimp!" she stated.

"It probably won't be too crowded, either," Syrus added.

"Okay! Slifer it is, then!" Annie said happily.

Jaden looked at Alexis. "You joining us, Alexis?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Might as well see what Slifer dining is like," Alexis replied, as she really wanted to be with Jaden a bit longer.

"Hey, Alexis," Annie said, moving close to her other Obelisk.

"Yeah, Annie?"

"I'm sorry I was so mad at you last night. I know you were sorry."

She smiled a little. "It's okay, Annie. I was a little out of line with what I did..."

"Friends?" Annie asked, holding out her hand.

"Friends," Alexis answered, shaking Annie's hand.

"I smell food!" Violet suddenly yelled as they neared the Slifer cafeteria.

"YUM!" Jaden and Annie shouted as well.

Bastion sniffed. "Mmmm...smells delectable..."

"Detectable? What does that have to do with food??" Violet asked as they entered the cafeteria.

Bastion laughed softly. "Delectable, Violet. It's another way of saying it's wonderful. Smells as good as Professor Sartyr's cooking."

"Oh...he's the cook...cool!" Annie said.

Syrus had been right. By now most of the Slifers had decided to eat at the snack shop or with higher-ranked friends they'd made. Violet smirked and sent Jaden a look. "Hey, Jaden..."

"Yeah, Violet?"

She struck a dramatic pose and pointed a finger at him. "I, Violet Haverbrook, challenge you, Jaden Yuki, to a fried shrimp eating contest!"

"Okay! Get your game on, Violet! My stomach's ready!"

"Er...what?" Bastion looked puzzled.

"Violet eats a lot...she wolfed down ten burritos our first night here," Annie said.

Syrus's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "She what?!" he asked.

Meanwhile, Violet's smirk returned as she grabbed two trays and did some quick math. "Okay! Whoever finishes eating twenty fried shrimp first wins!! And you automatically lose if you stop eating!" she said as they sat down. Alexis groaned at what was soon to occur.

"Sweet! You're on!" Jaden said.

"Oh, boy...I think we need to get some..." Annie began.

"Antacid?" Bastion asked wryly, completing Annie's sentence as she, Sy and he got their lunches.

"Nice...Japanese bento!" Annie said.

Alexis also got her lunch, and as the four sat down Violet and Jaden started their eating contest. Syrus' jaw dropped slightly, suddenly losing his appetite. Alexis groaned again and tried not to watch.

Annie ate, mesmerized. "This is so much like those hot dog eating contests on Coney Island in New York."

"You think so?" Bastion wondered.

"Yeah! These two could win the honor for the US!"

Syrus blinked. "Who beats the US in those contests?" he asked curiously. Somehow he managed to eat some of his food.

"Little Asian guys, mostly," Annie explained. They turned their heads to the action where the combatants fiercely fought.

After about one more minute, both Jaden and Violet held up their trays. "Done!!" they both yelled.

"It's...a tie?" Annie asked, stunned.

"Yeah...Cool!" Jaden grinned.

Violet grinned. "No one's ever been able to match me before! Now I have a rival!!" she exclaimed.

Syrus grimaced. "So, does that mean there's going to be more food contests?"

"You bet, Sy!" Jaden said excitedly. "This is so gonna rock!!"

"Oh, bugger," Bastion muttered.

"It's okay...this is entertaining," Annie said easily. Then she turned to Syrus. "So, Sy...um..." She wasn't sure what to ask him, so she blushed.

He turned to face her. "What is it, Annie?"

"I'm...not sure what to ask you about," she admitted.

Syrus blinked. He was a little confused at what she was getting at. "Uh..."

"I want to know more about if we're going to be friends, but...I don't know where to begin..."

"Well, uh, of course we can be friends, Annie."

"Well...so...what should we ask each other about?"

"Um...how about our families?" he offered.

"Oh...okay...Well...do you have any brothers or sisters?" she asked. Jaden, engrossed with seeing how much white rice he and Violet could pack away, wasn't paying attention. Syrus frowned, looking down at the table. He wasn't sure how to answer that question. Biologically he had a brother, but he didn't exactly act like one.

"What's wrong?" Annie asked gently.

"Well, uh...I do have one brother..." he mumbled.

"Yeah? Oh, Alexis mentioned...Zane, right?"

Syrus nodded. "But...he's not around much..."

"He must be glad you're here..." Annie said.

His frown deepened a little and he looked away. "N-Not exactly..."

Alexis decided she should probably say something to help Annie understand. "Annie, Zane is...well, he thinks that...oh, this is so hard to explain," she groaned.

"Try me," Annie said gently. She could tell something was wrong here and wanted to understand.

"My brother doesn't think I'm strong enough to be here," Syrus blurted out, obviously pained by the fact.

"What? You passed the tests," Annie said, not understanding.

"But he still thinks I'm too weak as a duelist...and being in Slifer doesn't help..."

Annie's face tightened. "Oh, Sy," she said, heart melting.

"I hang out with Zane a lot, but he never tells me why he thinks that way," Alexis added, frowning.

"Well, he's wrong," Annie said clearly.

Syrus looked up in surprise. "W-What?"

"He's wrong," Annie repeated. "You belong here, no matter what he says. Did you or did you not pass the entrance exams?"

He blinked. "I-I did..."

"Okay...so did the powers that be at this school say you could attend?"

"Yeah..."

"So...you have as much right to be here as he does..."

Syrus sighed. "I just wish he thought that."

Annie looked at Sy. "Can I hug you?"

He blinked, then remembered what he'd said last night about asking first. "Uh, sure."

She hugged him tightly. "You do belong here...And I'm glad you're here, Syrus..."

Syrus blushed, but hugged her back. "Thanks, Annie," he mumbled, somehow relieved that the other guys hadn't heard him.

"No problem," Annie answered, letting go. "So...where do you guys live when you're not at school?"

"In Domino City. What about you? You said you were from Seattle..."

"Domino? Wow...Well, yeah, I live just a little ways from Seattle in a town called Medina..."

"I live in Domino, too, of course. What about you, Bastion?" Alexis asked curiously.

"I live in Domino, as well. I don't sound like it, do I?" he asked, chuckling.

"No. You sound like you're from England," Syrus replied, a little surprised at his answer.

Bastion laughed. "Well, I learned to talk there, and my dad has the accent, so I picked it up," the big boy answered."And then my last name's Misawa. Quite a jolly combo, isn't it?"

Annie looked at him. "Yeah, but not surprising. Where I'm from, lots of kids have blended backgrounds like that."

Jaden and Violet had tuned into the conversation and Jaden nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm part Japanese. My mom's white. And I'm from Domino, too. Where are you from, Violet?"

"Geez, I feel a little left out. Here all you guys are from the west coast and I'm stranded over on the east. I come from a small suburb off of Cleveland, Ohio called South Royalton," she explained.

"Hey that just makes you cool!" Jaden said. "And I think one of the guys here in Slifer is from New York!"

"Oh and that guy, Lorenzo, is from New York...he's in Obelisk and he's addicted to video games. He's got a classic Nintendo system in his room," Annie said.

"Yeah?" Bastion asked. "Which one?"

"The very first; that console is almost thirty years old!"

"I like video games, too! But I'm not addicted to them. I'm just kind of a...technology addict?" Violet explained, thinking on the subject.

"I'll bet the Ra and Obelisk dorms are a lot nicer on the inside than the Slifer dorms," Syrus replied.

Bastion looked around the room. "I haven't seen your dormitories, but this room seems like a Japanese noodle house...the Ra dining hall is a bit more modern. Girls, how about the Obelisk dorms?"

"They're pretty nice. Kind of like a hotel room. And the cafeteria serves some fancy food," Violet explained.

"The girls' dorm also has a Japanese-style bath house," Alexis added.

"A bath house...there's a public one for the rest of us," Bastion said.

"Yeah, and we have showers here, too," Jaden added.

"Do you guys have single beds or bunks?" Annie asked.

"Well, I don't know about the other rooms, but ours has a three-person bunk bed," Syrus replied.

"The Ra dormitories have single beds," Bastion said, "and we have single-occupancy rooms, as well..."

Violet grinned. "I know the girls have either one or two roommates."

"And that's if we want to share our suites. I know that girl, Rose, doesn't share," Annie said. "She's the one that's like Paris Hilton and a fairy-tale princess."

"You mean with those frog prince guys?" Violet asked.

"Yeah...she makes me nervous," Annie admitted.

"Why?" Jaden asked.

"Uh...well...she knows I can...this might make me sound weird." She hadn't told anyone her age about her friend before.

Violet blinked. "Annie...?"

"Uh...I can see my Duel Monsters," Annie admitted, shyly.

"You, too?" Jaden asked.

"Wait, you mean you can, too??" Violet also asked, surprised. The other three in the room were a little confused at the conversation.

"Uh...you too, Violet? Then...I'm not nuts!" Annie said happily.

"You're not nuts! You guys, too! Sweet!" Jaden whooped.

"So who's your duel spirit?" Violet asked eagerly.

Annie smiled. "Her name's Usagi...she's a Sailor Scout like in Sailor Moon."

The purple-haired girl grinned. "That's cool! Mine's Watapon." As if on cue, the small, pink puffball appeared on Violet's head with a squeak.

"Sweet, that's in Yugi's deck!" Jaden grinned. "Mine's Winged Kuriboh and my Elemental Heroes, too!"

Finally, one of the others decided to break the conversation. "Uh, what are you guys talking about??" Alexis asked.

"You can't see your monsters, Alexis?" Jaden asked curiously.

"No, unless you mean the holograms during a duel," she replied.

"I can't see mine, either," Syrus added.

"I confess I can't, either...though I do feel a strong kinship with my monsters," Bastion said.

"That doesn't mean you don't have duel spirits," Jaden said. "Is there a monster you like really well, Lex?"

She nodded. "My Cyber Angel Benten. You didn't get to see her in our duel, but she's my favorite monster..."

"Cyber Angel?" Jaden asked. "Is she tough?"

"Well, she's only a level 6 monster, but she has a cool effect. When she destroys a monster in battle, its defense points are taken out of its owner's life points."

"Wow...that's kinda like Doblé Passé. You got a direct hit at me and your life points got hit," Jaden remembered.

Alexis nodded. "Like Bastion, my monsters and I are really close. Even if I can't see them like you three can see yours."

"Sy...what about you?" Annie asked. "What about your deck?"

"Well, there's my Steamroid. He's my favorite monster," he replied.

"That's the one that looks like a cartoon steam engine, right?" Annie asked, having seen Roid monsters before.

Syrus blushed a little at the way she described it. "Uh, yeah..."

"I think it's cute!" Annie said. "But...cute can be deceiving..."

"It does have a pretty good special ability. Most of my monsters do..."

"I'd love to see your deck in fun action, sometime."

"Fun action?" Jaden asked.

"When people are dueling for fun...not when grades are at stake," Annie explained.

"I like those kinds of duels. You can just relax and don't have to worry about it so much," Violet asserted, grinning.

"I love dueling!" Jaden grinned. "I couldn't imagine my life without it!"

"Me neither," Annie said.

"It's very fun," Bastion added.

"Living in Domino City, you kind of grow up around dueling," Syrus added.

Violet sighed. "Not where I come from," she muttered.

"Yeah?" Jaden asked.

"I guess...the game just isn't as popular on the east coast since there's not as much hype about Yugi. There's not a single card shop in South Royalton, and only two in Cleveland. I ordered most of my cards online, and nobody I knew played the game or even knew much about it."

"Wow...well...Not a lot of kids played the game at my school," Annie admitted. "But there were tons of card shops where I was. But I had to order online, too because I needed to get certain cards for my deck."

"You mean those Sailor Moon cards, right?" Violet asked, gesturing with her glass of soda pop.

Annie nodded at her best friend. "Yeah. I drove my mom nuts when I went looking for them."

"It wasn't exactly easy to find aliens, either. But I didn't want a normal Spellcaster or Warrior or Beast deck..."

"Yeah? So...what are your favorite monsters?" Jaden asked.

"Yes...I'm curious as well," Bastion added.

Violet grinned. "Anything that's an Alien-Type, I don't really mind the attribute. But I guess my favorites are of course Watapon, Storm Warrior of Jupiter, and Mind Probe."

"Wow! I like aliens, too...Bastion, what about you?" Jaden asked.

"Oh...I prefer science...I suppose..." Bastion admitted, but he was hiding something.

Violet got a "what are you hiding?" look on her face and poked his arm. "You suppose...?" It was obvious Violet wasn't going to let the subject go anytime soon.

"Well, I like keeping...certain strategies...close to my vest," Bastion answered carefully.

"Oh, you are hiding something!" Annie said.

"Come on, you can tell us! I promise I won't laugh!" Violet stated.

"I won't either," added Syrus.

"Me neither," Alexis stated.

"Sorry, my secret..." Bastion said. "Can't let you know just yet..."

She pouted. "Oh, you're no fun!" Violet secretly vowed that she would find out Bastion's little secret before the school year's end.

Soon, lunch period was over and Annie and Sy had discussed a lot of things as had the other kids.

"I hope we can do this again..." Annie said shyly.

"Yeah, it was fun..." Syrus replied just as shyly.

"Violet...may I enjoy lunch with you again?" Bastion asked.

"Sure! The more the merrier!!" Violet answered with a grin, knowing this would give her a multitude of chances to discover his secret.

"Alexis, you're always welcome down here," Jaden offered. "If you like hanging..."

"All right. I have to admit, this was fun," Alexis replied, smiling.

"Yeah...It's always fun when you have friends around!" Jaden said cheerfully. He liked Alexis, but he decided he'd wait to see what she really wanted from him.

**THE END**

_And there you have it, everyone. Syrus met Annie outside the Slifer dorm and they decided they'd be friends first. Next time, we'll see how Bastion met Violet! Please read and review this first tale and we hope you enjoyed it! Thank you! _


	4. Chaos Theory Part I

Chaos Theory Part I: Bastion and Violet

_Hello again, everyone and welcome to another installment of "How We Met." Now, it is time to tell the tale of how Bastion Misawa and Violet Haverbrook first met and started falling for each other. We're glad that you seem to like this series of tales so far and we hope to see more reviews. We are grateful and thankful to our reviewers so far and hope you will stick with us. We'll post this arc a little more slowly so you have more time to peruse, dear readers._

_And so begins the tale of Bastion Misawa and Violet Haverbrook. This will be a tri-shot tale, so please read and review._

_**Disclaimer: Peach and 15animefreak15 don't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. They just own their OCs and this version of the Yugi-verse.**_

It was the first morning of classes at Duel Academy for the 2016 freshman class. The alarm clock in Annie Hanson and Violet Haverbrook's bedroom went off at 6:00 AM. Annie got up and headed to her friend's bed. "Violet! Violet, wake up! It's the first day of class!"

Violet, never having been a morning person, groaned and turned a sleep-filled eye onto her roommate. "How can you be so…energetic?" she asked, pausing mid-sentence to yawn.

Annie yawned as well, and stretched. "I just know I have to be up. I also look forward to my morning shower."

She yawned again as she sat-up, running a hand through her tangled mess of hair. "I don't take morning showers. Never enough time," Violet mumbled, slowly getting out of bed.

"That's why I'm up at six," Annie explained.

Violet froze, expression becoming agitated. "What time did you say it was?" she asked wearily.

"Six AM?" Annie said.

Within seconds, Violet was back under the covers and half-asleep. "Wake me when it's 7:30."

"Okay. I'll just go back in my part of the suite to do my yoga and then get my shower, and then I'll wake you!"

"Mmhmm..." As stated, Violet Haverbrook was NOT a morning person.

And so, Annie went and did her routine. At 7:30, she went to wake Violet again. "Violet! It's 7:30!"

This time she woke up far easier, and her eyes weren't filled with as much sleep as she stretched. "Ah...much better! Thanks, Annie!!" Violet replied, grinning as she slid out of bed.

"I'm heading to get my breakfast! I'll see you in a little bit," Annie said, straightening her modified school uniform.

Violet noticed that her friend was wearing the uniform, and her jaw dropped. "Uh...we have to wear a mini-skirt?" she asked worriedly. Violet hated mini-skirts; she was always paranoid they didn't cover enough.

"I got permission to modify mine so the skirt was longer since I'm a little...big," Annie said sheepishly.

"Oh, Annie, you're fine! Mini-skirts just make me...nervous," Violet muttered. She walked over to the closet and pulled out one of her own uniforms, grimacing upon sight of the dreaded piece of clothing.

"You're able to pull it off, you know..."

"Huh?" Violet asked, starting to look through some dresser drawers. 'Maybe if I wear something under it...?' she wondered.

"You look good in the mini skirt."

Violet blushed. "I-I do? But that's not the point. I'm so paranoid of them...it's pretty stupid," she replied, wondering if a pair of shorts would go with the skirt.

"Yeah...no matter my size, my butt is way too big," Annie said. "But if you're worried, put on shorts. That's what I did, even with the modified skirt."

"You read my mind, Annie! Guess I'll see you downstairs for breakfast," Violet replied, grabbing the clothes and heading for the bathroom.

"Okay!" Annie ran downstairs and got breakfast and headed for her first class.

It took Violet half an hour to get ready, and by eight o'clock she was downstairs in the cafeteria. Her hair was up in its usual ponytail and she wore a pair of navy blue shorts under the mini-skirt. Violet was used to rushing, so just grabbed a few pieces of jellied toast and started running. Halfway to the academy building she caught up with Annie. "Annie! Hey, Annie!!" she called.

"Hey, Violet!" Annie called back, slowing so her friend could catch up.

She tried to stop by Annie, but didn't notice that someone had conveniently littered. Violet slipped on the cliché banana peel and face-planted onto the dirt path. "Ow..."

"Oh, Violet, are you okay?!" Annie asked, helping her up.

Violet dusted herself off, glad she'd finished her toast before falling. "Wonder who dropped this?" she muttered, picking up the peel distastefully. At least it hadn't been another rock.

"Probably some idiot..."

Violet shrugged and walked over to a nearby bush, placing the peel near the base. "Well, they could have at least been more careful. Banana peels are good fertilizer but are slippery," she grumbled as they started walking again.

"Yeah...I wonder if the school has a composting program. They have a henhouse."

Violet blinked. "They have chickens here??" she asked.

"Yeah!" Annie said cheerfully.

"Huh. Didn't know that. Guess you learn somethin' new every day. So...whose class do you have first period?"

"I have Dr. Vellian Crowler," Annie said.

Violet pouted. "Aw! I have Professor Stein."

"Tell me what he's like...I'm not sure about Dr. Crowler...He got his PhD in dueling at Harvard."

She blinked. "They have PhDs for dueling??"

"Yeah. That's fairly new..." They kept walking to the new building as they chatted.

Finally, they had to split up once inside the building. "Oh! Who do you have for second period?"

"Professor Banner, the head of Slifer Red...I heard his teaching methods are somewhat...unorthodox..."

Violet grinned. "That's who I have! We can see each other then!!"

"YAY!" Annie squealed. "Well, I'll see you after our first period's over, Violet! Have fun!"

"I'll try!" The two parted ways, and she made it to Professor Stein's class on time. However, she soon found herself dozing off, and finally having her head hit the desk like numerous other students in the classroom.

Professor Stein had kept the class in a stupor the entire class. "...And Dartz was a powerful king of...Anyone? Atlantis...And Atlantis was the civilization that gave birth to...how many civilizations around the world? Anyone? Anyone?" One male Obelisk had his head on his desk, and was asleep and drooling.

Violet was in a similar state, but without the drooling. Suddenly, the bell rang, waking up the class from their sleepy stupor. Violet pulled her head off of the desk groggily, and followed her classmates out of the classroom. Too bad she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

"I hate new schools! I always get lost, and now there's no one around!!" she yelled angrily. Violet stopped when she came to a door and poked her head inside, coming across an apparently empty classroom. "Hello!" she called, stepping inside. Violet was greeted by the sound of a yelp of surprise and several books crashing to the ground. Apparently, someone was still in there.

"Oh my goodness!" a male British voice shouted in shock. "Who's there?" The person matching the voice stood up, a young man with what appeared to be dark gray hair and deep gray eyes.

"I should be asking you that, mister! But to answer your question, I'm Violet Haverbrook!!" Violet shouted, skipping down the steps to come to a stop beside him. A light blush crept across her cheeks when she saw him fully, finding him to actually be rather cute. 'Oh man, Violet, don't do this to yourself!' she thought.

"Bastion Misawa, terribly sorry to startle you, Violet...I was...doing what I typically do and I study long after everyone leaves class," he said sheepishly. "My goodness, I haven't met you before...Are you a first year as well?"

'He was studying?! Bleh! How boring!!' she thought, making a face. "Uh-huh! It's my first day!!...and I'm already lost." She pouted, cursing how big the island and school were.

"This school is rather large...a big change for me...I attended Stephen Hawking Junior High in Domino...where are you from?" Bastion spoke rather quickly.

Violet took longer to reply, her mind having to register each bit. 'Stephen Hawking...that genius guy. And Domino's in California...' she thought. "Ah! Lucky, getting to live by the ocean!! I went to South Royalton Middle School in Cleveland. Bleh."

"Cleveland? Isn't that where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is located? I've always wanted to see that..."

Violet rubbed the back of her head in a bored manner. "Yeah, but that's about five miles away in the city. Nothing cool like that where I actually live." Her mind was starting to wander a bit; she'd never really been able to concentrate on one thing for too long.

"Violet...which class are you going to right now? Or do you have class?"

"Yeah, I have class. Professor Banner's. What about you?"

"I have Professor Banner, as well...Perhaps I can help you find the class," he offered.

She grinned. "All right! Need some help with those books?"

"I believe that's supposed to be my line, Violet..."

"Well, I'm not your average girl. And besides, you have way more books than I do."

"Good point," Bastion said with a slight chuckle. "All right...let's go, then..."

"Right!" Violet grabbed some of the books and they headed up the stairs. "Oh, oh, you want to see a cool trick I can do??"she asked eagerly.

"Of course, Violet," Bastion said eagerly. He found himself enjoying this young woman right away, though he couldn't say why.

She grinned and stacked the books she held, then placed them on her head. Violet attracted some stares as they walked down the hallway, but didn't even need to use her arms to keep the books balanced. "Ta-da!"

Bastion was impressed. "You have an excellent sense of balance, Violet. You would likely outshine the girls I knew in the etiquette classes at Stephen Hawking..."

Violet crossed her arms over her chest, sighing. "Mom just says I have a flat head. I've tripped over nothing, fallen up stairs, and walked into walls too many times to count," she admitted.

"Are you absent-minded? So am I. Mum says I'm just like my dad..."

She thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I could be that. But I'd say more along the lines of-" Violet was cut off as she walked straight into a pillar, causing the books to fall off her head… "…clumsy."

"Oh, my! Are you all right, Violet?" Bastion asked as the books fell.

Violet stepped back to remove her face from the pillar, only to trip over the fallen books and land unceremoniously on her butt. "Like I said, clumsy," she groaned, wincing.

Bastion helped her up and got the books collected. "Do you require a trip to the infirmary?" he asked.

She shook the slight dizziness from her head before answering. "No, it's okay. I've been through worse without needing a trip to the nurse's office. You should have seen some of the stuff that happened at SRMS," Violet explained as they started walking again.

"Oh, dear..."

"VIOLET! OVER HERE!!" a cheerful voice called.

"Oh, who's that?" Bastion asked.

Violet turned, then grinned. "It's my best friend and roommate, Annie Hanson. ANNIE!!" she called, tackling the girl in a hug.

The girl next to Annie sweat-dropped. "Uh, hi..." She hadn't met Violet yet, even though Annie had mentioned her.

"Oh, sorry, Alexis, this is Violet Haverbrook. Violet, this is Alexis Rhodes," Annie introduced. Bastion waited behind Violet "And you are..?"

"Bastion Misawa," the Brit said in clipped British tones, "a pleasure. Violet, is this your friend you mentioned?"

Violet grinned. "Nice to meet you, Alexis! And yeah, Bastion, this is Annie Hanson, my best buddy and roommate," Violet explained.

Bastion shook the girls' hands. "Are you in Professor Banner's class?" he asked.

Annie nodded. "Yes we are, and I'm afraid we're going to be late..."

"All right, then, let me escort you, please," he said, following the girls. They got into class and in their seats on time and Professor Banner entered. He gave a short introductory speech that freaked Annie out for some sci-fi/fantasy reason and then Violet was about to ask Annie why a guy had such long hair, when none other than the two Slifer boys from Dr. Crowler's class ran in.

"Oh, Jay, I told you we were going to be late..." Syrus whispered, embarrassed.

"Sorry we're late, Professor Banner!" Jaden Yuki shouted.

"Jaden, I expect you to be on time..." Banner stated.

The two tardy boys took their seats and Bastion laughed inwardly to himself. 'Those two are very amusing.' And then he looked down at the Obelisk Blue girl with the purple hair. 'She's...fascinating,' he thought. 'Pay attention to the lesson, Bastion...' He was able to pay attention, but he multi-tasked, looking at the young woman.

Violet sighed, a little bored. Sure, what Banner was teaching was kind of interesting, but she had other things on her mind. Violet turned to casually glance over her shoulder, supposedly at the clock. In reality, she was trying to sneak a look at the British-accented Ra. Violet blushed when their eyes locked.

Bastion flushed slightly. He couldn't help it and looked at Banner fast. 'Oh, bloody good going, Misawa...you've probably frightened her...'

She also turned away, a heavy blush on her face. 'H-He was looking at me, too. Oh, man...but it was probably a glance. I bet he thinks I'm so weird for staring at him,' she thought sadly, sinking in her seat.

Bastion caught the blush. 'Oh, I've made her nervous...Oh, how do I rectify it? I'll just take the lead from the others...Hope it's enough,' he thought. Fortunately, the professor's cat kept the girls occupied for the rest of the period.

"Thank you for taking care of him...he seems to like you...and you, Violet and Alexis," Professor Banner said.

"Thank you, sir," Annie said. "Thanks for trusting us with him."

"My pleasure. Now I suggest you get to your next class."

"Yes, sir." They each tripped up the stairs of the lecture hall, and Syrus and Jaden were kept back.

"I wonder why they were late..." Violet wondered aloud as they left the classroom. Her curiosity always got the better of her in these sorts of situations.

"Maybe it took a while for that brown-haired boy to wake up...Isn't his name Jaden, Alexis?" Annie asked.

She nodded. "That's what Professor Banner called him when he came late, remember?" Alexis reminded.

Violet suddenly let out a sigh of relief. "Wow, I feel better now that I know I wasn't the only one who slept during first period."

"Oh, were you lost because of that, Violet?" Bastion asked curiously.

Violet glanced at him. "Lost as in how...?"

"Er...when you were trying to find your way to class and found me instead?" Bastion asked.

She blushed a little. "Uh...maybe..." She never cared about anyone else's opinion before, so why was she always so careful around him??

"It's all right...as I said, it's easy to get lost 'round here...I know it's a great deal bigger than my old school...I wish I had a tricorder or something to find my way," Bastion laughed.

Okay, now Violet was really lost. "Er, what??" she asked.

Annie looked at Violet and then at Bastion. "Oh, you're into Star Trek, also?"

"Why, yes..." Bastion answered in surprise. "You're into it as well, Annie?"

She nodded confirmation. "A tricorder is a neat scanner thing, Violet. They have it on Star Trek a lot. It comes with instant maps..."

"Sorry, not really one for science fiction...unless it has to do with aliens," Violet replied, grinning sheepishly. She glanced from her best friend to her new crush and sighed. "But between you two my head is starting to hurt..."

"I can help you find the infirmary," Bastion offered. Fortunately, the classes went uneventfully the rest of the day and evening came.

Violet stretched as the small group left the academy building, breathing in the fresh air. "Geez, classes here are even longer than classes back home..."she said through a sigh.

"Well, I hope they're a great deal more entertaining," Bastion offered. "I suppose they have to entertain us in some ways as this is boarding school..."

His comment about it being a "boarding school" suddenly struck her. "Oh yeah...this'll be the first time I've ever been away from home so long..."

"Myself as well," Bastion answered. "I've never been without my parents for this long. I'm their only child, you see..."

The two had gotten a bit wrapped up in their conversation, and were by now alone on the dirt path. Violet turned to him. "Really? I've never been an only child. My brother was for eight years, and then when I was eight my sister came along."

Bastion looked at her in surprise. "Wow...quite a gap between children. That must be fun..." He was smiling.

"Oh, it's hectic, all right, even with my brother having moved to Miami. When he comes to visit it's just like old times. And there is a reason for the gaps."

"Oh...well...I'm an only child because Mum and Dad...couldn't have any more children after me..."

Violet frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry. With my parents, it was kind of opposite until after my sister. They had children unintentionally; at least my brother and sister were..."

"Oh...they were surprises," Bastion said with a smile.

She nodded, grinning sheepishly. "My brother was a surprise, and my parents wanted to wait to have me. That was supposed to be it, but then they ended up having my sister."

"Well, Dad says surprises are God's extra blessings..." Bastion said. "And I'll bet you're glad you have an older brother to protect you and a little sister that probably wishes to be exactly like you..."

Violet sighed. "True, he does protect me. But we're in sort of a...sibling war? Always have been since I could pull my first prank. I think what started it is our duelist idols. He liked Seto Kaiba and I liked Joey Wheeler," she explained.

"Ah...I rather like them both," he said easily. "Each duelist has something another lacks, after all."

"I wonder what I lack and you have, and vice-versa," she stated suddenly.

"Well...I believe a weakness of mine is that I have a difficulty not using logic," Bastion admitted.

"So that would be something I have; 'not using logic'. So then what do I lack? Maybe not being able to balance my deck. I always have problems deciding how many of each type of card I should have."

"Well...I suppose that's a problem every duelist has," the boy said. He had a solution, but didn't want to tell anyone yet.

She shrugged. "Guess you're right. Since I can't really decide, I usually stick to the simple 20-10-10 method I came up with."

"20-10-10?" he asked.

Violet grinned. "20 monsters, 10 spells, 10 traps. Easy as that for a perfect 40 card deck."

"What about a 52-card deck?"

She blinked. "There are 52-card decks in Duel Monsters??"

"There was, for a brief time, during Battle City," he explained.

"Wow...I didn't know that! Are they still allowed?"

"Depends on the type of play, if I'm not mistaken," Bastion answered.

"Well...maybe you and I could duel sometime..."

Bastion smiled. "I would be delighted, Miss Haverbrook," he said formally.

"No need for formalities. I'm just Violet to my friends," she replied simply. Violet blushed lightly. "We are...friends, right?"

"Yes, we are, Violet. I was just being formal because you did challenge me to a duel," Bastion said, grinning.

Violet was relieved. It seemed to be a lot easier to make friends here than back home. She was so happy about this fact that she impulsively hugged him. "YAY! I made another friend!!"

Bastion blushed and hugged back. "You have a great deal of energy, don't you, Violet? I like that!"

She grinned. "It runs in the family! You should see me after I have sugar!!" Violet felt rather good for some reason when Bastion had said he liked her energetic personality.

"Oh, my...I don't eat sugary snacks that much myself," Bastion admitted. "I do, however, enjoy chocolate bars on occasion."

"Really? Those are my favorite, too! But then a lot of girls like chocolate, don't they?"

"Yes...chocolate is actually good for you in moderation."

"Hey, I know! You want to grab a bite at the snack shop tomorrow evening? I heard from some of the older students that they have great chocolate fudge. Maybe we could share some," she offered happily.

"Well, of course, I'd be delighted, Violet. Shall I walk you to Obelisk Blue?" he asked.

Violet blushed a little. "Uh, sure. I mean...if you don't mind having to turn around and walk all the way back..."

"Of course not. In fact, it's good exercise," Bastion answered. "Please allow me, if you don't mind the company."

'He's just like a knight in shining armor! Especially with that accent...' she thought. Violet was obviously love struck, but tried desperately to hide it. "N-Not at all..."

Bastion, meanwhile, was somewhat oblivious as he was a bit nervous. 'What is this feeling?' he wondered. "Jolly good, then," he said, smiling and they began to walk.

Violet giggled. "You said 'jolly.'" Oh, how she loved accents and their funny words.

"I clearly speak Brit," Bastion said, smiling sheepishly.

She slapped him on the back in a friendly way, but as usual put more than enough force into it. "Ah, it's okay. I always liked accents; especially British and Australian ones," Violet replied, then blushed a little when she realized what she'd just said. 'I hope he didn't think there was any hidden meaning there. I mean, maybe there was, but...oh I hope he didn't catch it!' she thought nervously.

Bastion staggered a little bit at the force of the blow. He shook it off, smiling, and then caught what she'd said. "You...like accents?"

Violet would have squeaked had she not caught herself, realizing he still may not have caught the hidden meaning behind her words. "Uh, yeah. They're really fun and interesting, you know? Plus there's the fact that Ohioans don't have any accent at all. It's the only state not to have one."

"Really?" Bastion asked. "That's intriguing, especially with the homogenization of modern American culture." He flushed, realizing he'd done his typical speaking possibly beyond a classmate. "What I mean is, with us hearing one accent on television commonly, regional accents are weakening."

She blinked. "Huh. I didn't know that. Well, like I always say, you learn somethin' new every day."

Bastion laughed as they walked. "Yes, you do. I learned something about people from Ohio."

"Well, here are two more fun facts about Ohio. Most of it is farm country and its seasons are off."

"The latter is because of the Great Lakes, correct?"

"Probably. But I won't have to deal with it much longer. The second I turn eighteen I'm out of there!" Violet exclaimed, a determined look coming into her eyes.

Bastion looked at her. "Er...may I ask why?"

She looked at him. "Let me ask you something first. What's the one personality trait you've noticed most about me?" Violet wanted to see if this genius had been paying enough attention to figure it out himself.

"You seem to be delightfully random and exciting."

"Well, you have a point..." Violet was a little disappointed; maybe he wasn't as perceptive as she thought he was. "I'll give you one more chance. Think hard now 'cause you're not getting a second!"

"You also seem to be quite...independent," Bastion said, slightly nervous about offending her.

She grinned, confidence in his abilities fully renewed. "That's it! I knew you could do it if you put that big brain of yours to it!! I've always been independent. Accepting help is, I have to admit, hard. Even when I know I need it," Violet explained, thinking back on that moment when...no, she shouldn't bring it up. It wouldn't help anything.

Bastion looked at her. "There's another thing we have in common, then. I don't always ask for help. Mum says I can be rather stubborn; it is detrimental to me..."

"You, too? My stubbornness always got on my mom's nerves as well, even if it did run in the family. Along with a bad temper," Violet sent him an innocent grin. "Don't get me angry if you know what's good for you!"

"Understood," Bastion said, holding up his hands. "I've never been pushed to my breaking point. I haven't had reason to become very angry yet..."

"You're lucky, then. I was once," she stated before thinking, and then went silent instantly. Violet had let it slip, after being so careful! 'Please don't ask, please don't ask, please don't ask...'she repeated over and over in her head.

Bastion sensed that he shouldn't probe this. "Well, I suppose we all become angry sometimes...Don't worry...I'm certain you had a good reason, Violet..."

She thanked whatever was the leading power he hadn't probed before replying quietly. "Yeah...there usually is one for hitting your breaking point," Violet stated as they finally reached the split between the Obelisk and girls dorms where they'd have to part ways. It had gotten late; the sun was setting over the tops of the trees.

"Well, Violet, I'll see you tomorrow in class," Bastion said easily.

"Yeah. And we're still on for the snack shop, right?" Violet asked happily.

"Of course...I look forward to it, Violet..."

She grinned, and suddenly gave him one last hug before running off. "Bye, Bastion! See you tomorrow!!"

"Good-bye, Violet," Bastion called as he walked away. He began to whistle as he left.

_And that is where we end Part I of _Chaos Theory. _Bastion seems to like Violet and vice versa. So what will happen tomorrow? Please read and review and we will update soon! Thank you!_


	5. Chaos Theory Part II

Chaos Theory Part II

_**The usual disclaimer: We just own our OCs, not Yu-Gi-Oh GX or the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. And we own this story.**_

The next day's classes passed quickly, the most eventful thing having been lunch at the Slifer cafeteria. It was now a few hours later, and Violet was fixing her hair and the little make-up she ever put on back in her and Annie's room. Bastion was going to be waiting for her by the Obelisk gates in five minutes for their little trip to the snack shop. And she was nervous.

"Violet, it's okay. You'll do fine," Annie assured her.

Violet squeaked in surprise, dropping her hair brush in the sink. "I-I know, Annie. It's not even a date or anything. It's just...I'm nervous about letting myself get close to another guy..."

"Bastion isn't your ex. And I got to know him a little bit better today," Annie said. "We had some down time in Professor Ginsburg's class and we talked about stuff. He wants to be friends with you."

Violet smiled a little. "Yeah...he said we were friends yesterday when we were talking. It's so much easier to make friends here..."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Annie said. "I've never really had friends before."

Violet sighed, turning to look at Annie. "I did, but...well, you know the story," she mumbled.

"Yeah...nobody should have to go through that. Nobody."

"Well, I did. But at least now I have friends again," Violet replied, pulling her best friend into a hug.

Annie hugged back. "Yeah...and I'm glad you came here. I think God brought us all here for a reason."

Violet glanced at the clock and gasped. "Oh, shoot! I've got to get going!! Thanks for the pep talk, Annie!" Violet called as she ran out the door.

"No problem, Violet," Annie called back. "Good luck!"

For once, luck was on Violet's side as she raced through the halls of the girls' dorm. For a moment, she thought she'd reach the meeting spot without any mishaps as Bastion came into sight. "Hiya, Bastion-" Jinx, Violet tripped on one of those oh-so-sneaky rocks and crashed into Bastion, sending them both to the ground with her on top.

"Oof!" Bastion felt the hit. "Hello, Violet. Are you...all right?"

She groaned, shaking the dizziness from her head. "Yeah, you kind of cushioned my fall...are you all right?"

"Yeah...I'm all right. There's a great deal more of me than you, so when I crash to the ground, I won't get hurt badly."

Violet finally noticed their current position, and blushed bright pink. "S-Sorry!" she mumbled, jumping to her feet.

Bastion flushed slightly. "It's...quite all right. It was an accident..." He helped her up as he got himself up and dusted her off first.

Her blush increased a little when he dusted her off. "Uh, so you ready to go? Sorry I knocked you down...I swear those rocks are out to get me..." Violet stated, sending a glare at the rock.

"Yes, I'm ready. And it's really all right," Bastion said. "Please don't worry, Violet..."

"About knocking you down or the rocks?" she asked as they started walking.

"About knocking me down. As for the rocks...I think that's between you and them," he answered with a half smile.

Violet sighed. "Guess you're right. Stupid rocks..."she grumbled, kicking one. It bounced off a tree and came right for her, but for once Violet ducked. "Ha! As if I'd fall for that old trick-" BAM!! Sneak attack from behind as the rock bounced off another tree and smacked her in the head, sending her careening to the ground once more. "Tr-Tricky things!"

"Oh, my...you have bad luck with rocks..." Bastion said.

She shakily stood, rubbing the sore spot on the back of her head. "Ow...yeah, it's been like that since I was a kid. I have no idea why," Violet replied as they continued walking, dusting herself off again.

"Well...I've had trouble with..." and he trailed off.

Violet glanced at him, unsure if she should poke at the matter. She decided a little probing couldn't hurt. "Trouble with what...?"

Bastion grinned sheepishly as they walked. "Occasionally...cats..."

She stopped the laughter that rose in her throat, but couldn't hide the light smirk. "Really? I love cats. But...I think I finally met one that doesn't like me too much. That, or Pharaoh thinks my hand's really tasty," Violet explained holding up her bandaged hand from earlier.

"Oh, dear...well, I think Pharaoh is a special case. He adores Professor Banner. I love cats but...sometimes...they aren't crazy about me..."

"Well, if we ever run into any, I'll protect you from them!"

"Thank you, Violet. Now...shall we enjoy some ice cream?"

"Ice cream!! Woohoo!!" That was Violet's version of a "yes" as they entered the snack shop.

"Well, hello, kids," Dorothy said cheerfully.

"Hello, Dorothy. How are you today?" Bastion asked.

"Very good...Bastion, is that right?" He nodded.

"So what can I get you?"

"Violet knows," he said.

Violet grinned. "We'll take the Triple Fudgy Brownie Supreme with two spoons, please."

"All right, coming right up!" Dorothy said cheerfully.

Bastion led Violet to a seat and they sat down. "That sounds wonderful," Bastion said.

Violet was glad that he did, worried it might be too much for him. "I heard this is the best item on the menu. It's big enough that it's meant for two people to eat it."

"Wow...well, I'm glad to be sharing it with you, then..." he said.

Dorothy brought out the sundae a moment later. "Enjoy!"

It was just like the name said. Vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge, whipped cream, a cherry, and two brownies. "Thanks, Dorothy!" Violet replied grabbing her spoon.

"You're welcome!" Dorothy grinned and walked away, giving the kids privacy.

"So, Violet...what would you like to talk about since there's no one around?" the handsome Ra boy genius asked conspiratorially.

"Well...what haven't we talked about?"

"What would you like to know about me?"

She blushed a little. "Er, well...have you always been a genius?"

Bastion thought a moment. "Yes, I suppose so." He thought some more. "I was always a great deal more advanced than other children..."

Violet grinned a little, reaching over to poke Bastion's hair. "You sure all that hair isn't hiding a bigger head to hold a bigger brain?" she teased.

Bastion flushed. "Well...my hair's always been like this..."

She blinked. "You mean you don't use gel to get it that way?"

"Er...no..." Bastion answered, flushing a little deeper and taking a bite of the sundae.

Violet giggled and decided to try something. She reached over again and mussed up his hair, watching in fascination as it slowly went back into place. "Whoa..."

Bastion smiled. "It's just like my dad's."

Her imagination kicked into high-gear as she pictured an older version of Bastion. "Cool...so then, any questions for me?" Violet asked, taking some of the sundae as well.

"Well...er...this is the first time I've been out with a friend of the opposite gender like this and I'm not exactly sure how to act properly..."

Violet rolled her eyes. "Bastion, just act normal. I mean, I'm no different than your guy friends...not really, anyway. I won't get mad if you say something wrong."

"Okay...I always seemed to get things wrong with people when I was at my other schools," he admitted. "Of both genders..."

"I understand completely," she muttered, taking another bite.

"You...do? Did you have trouble as well?"

"More than you could imagine..." Violet replied, once again before thinking and causing a light blush. 'Oh, shoot. This could lead to it...I hope it doesn't,' she thought nervously.

"Just...tell me what you're comfortable telling me...and I promise I will not tell..."

She glanced at him, seeing that he was dead serious in his promise. Violet sighed, gaze turning to the table. "Let's just say I...wasn't exactly accepted back at my old school..."

"You weren't?" he asked gently.

"No...the other kids thought I was weird and then it got worse when I skipped a grade. They thought I was even weirder and were jealous...I only had three friends..." The memories buried in the back of her mind reappeared, making quick jabs at her heart.

"You had three more than I did," Bastion said, a bit envious. "I had no one..."

"Then you were better off having no one rather than having it all backfire on you. Better off being alone than ending up broken and alone like you were before you knew the joy of having a friend," she muttered. Violet folded her arms on the table, resting her chin on them with a frown. The last time she'd dug up these old memories, it had been when she told Annie this past weekend.

"I'm sorry, Violet...I said the wrong thing, didn't I?" Bastion groaned.

Violet sighed. "No, no. What you said would have been fine for anyone else, probably. I'm just...not your average 'anyone else'. Don't be upset by it..." Now she felt bad, and started to retract back into herself and bury the memories once more.

"No, please talk. I want to make you feel better if I can. If it helps, I was an oddity among oddities. At Einstein Elementary, I made the mistake of having a classmate over for a study sleepover and...he saw my bedroom wall," Bastion said, looking down at the table for a brief moment before looking up at her again.

She glanced at him. "Your...wall?"

"Er...I use my walls as...paper...I write down equations on them. And it's always been that way."

Violet smiled a little. "So you draw on the walls? I used to do the same thing..."

"I...write down mathematical equations, Violet...I'll have to show you...but once it got out at Einstein...it stayed with me...I never had friends after that..."

"Well, I suppose I should tell you mine, then. I never had friends to begin with until I met the three I mentioned. One...actually became my first boyfriend..."she mumbled.

"Oh? If you'd like to tell me...I'd be honored to listen...and be a sympathetic shoulder, should you need it," he said, reaching out and laying a hand on her shoulder.

Violet was comforted by the gesture, and somehow WANTED to tell him. "I...he..." She swallowed, gathering her thoughts. "He ch-cheated on me with my f-friend," Violet stuttered out, tears brimming her eyes. Just saying it sent her through the feeling she'd felt before; a sledge hammer smashing her heart to pieces.

Bastion moved his chair around so he could hug her. "Violet...oh, Violet...how could he do that to you?"

She unconsciously clung to his blazer, the tears falling. "I-I don't know. I was so a-alone after that. My only other friend mo-moved..." Bastion had no idea that Violet's short explanation only scratched the surface of what happened.

Bastion hugged her close. "Oh, dear...you did not deserve that...Violet...that...person...who hurt you like that...he is..." Now Bastion was getting mad.

Violet sniffled, surprised at how...nice it felt to be held like this by him. It was a similar feeling to when her ex used to hold her, but this time it was stronger. "B-Bastion, I...thank you," she muttered quietly.

"No trouble, Violet. You're my friend and should that boy ever decide to cause you harm and I'm around, I will be delighted to confront him and tell him just how to behave properly toward young ladies."

'Oh yeah, a friend. Get those thoughts out of your mind, Violet. He only wants to be friends and you should know better by now...' she thought, brushing away her tears. "To do that you'd have to fly all the way to Ohio with me after school ends, silly..."

"Well...the year is young and we've only started our first year. Perhaps I will come out there," Bastion said easily.

Violet blinked in surprise at his words. "Y-You would? Just for me??" she asked incredulously.

"Of course. If we're good friends, we should see each other's houses, right?"

'Friend. Get that in your head already! He just wants to be a friend!!' she thought, scolding herself. "But...you'd go to the other side of the country just to see my house?"

"Yes, I would," Bastion said. "And...I've never been to Ohio. Perhaps you'd do me the honor of showing me the sights?" he asked, a light blush forming on his cheeks. 'What is going on with you, Bastion?' he asked himself. This feeling was not logical.

"Uh, sure..." Violet mumbled, still trying to debate how she felt about this boy. 'I keep getting these feelings that it's more than just friendship. But it's obvious that's all he wants. Oh...why do relationships have to be so confusing??' she wondered frantically. Violet would have started banging her head against the wall had Bastion not been holding her.

"Violet," Bastion said, getting into his logical control mode, "if I may say...whomever finally wins your heart will be a lucky person indeed..."

Now it was her turn to blush. 'If only he knew how easy it would be for him to win my heart right this instant...' Violet thought sadly, pulling away to sit back in her seat. "Yeah...thanks, Bastion..."

"It's no problem...I'm just glad if we're friends right now," Bastion said, then turned red. 'Where did that come from? And that sounded so forward! Good bloody going, Bastion!' his mind screamed at him.

"Yea-" Violet blinked, registering the "now" part of his sentence and looked at him. 'Does he...was that just a slip of the tongue? Or...' she wondered, heart fluttering.

"I...er...I mean...Violet...uh..." He was stammering now, worried he'd just wrecked their budding friendship.

She had to admit he was cute when he did that. "Bastion, I agree. I'm glad if we're friends right now..." Violet hoped to the higher power of the land that what he said hadn't just been a slip of the tongue.

Bastion looked down at her. "Yes...and who knows what the future holds..." 'Forward! But...does she want something more?'

Violet blushed again. 'Do I want this to go further? It's obvious he isn't anything like Mike was. But...I never really thought Mike would have done what he did. What if...Bastion's the same way? Should I take the risk??' she wondered, deep in thought. Violet was so wrapped up in these thoughts that she didn't notice a slightly tense silence had appeared around them.

"Let's be friends, Violet...and take things in a relaxed way," he said, trying to dissipate the tension as best he could.

She snapped back to attention, blinking and looking at him once more. "Y-Yeah...that's a good idea," Violet replied, the tension finally easing away as the conversation went back to being casual.

"So, Violet, what is your family like?" Bastion asked, relieved he'd said the right thing.

"Well, Dad owns his own business. He's really a kid at heart, though. Mom works part-time as a store clerk, spending most of her time at home. My brother also owns his own business down in Miami, but he still acts like a little kid sometimes. And my little sister's basically a smaller version of me; oh, it melted," Violet explained, poking the half-melted sundae they'd been sharing.

"It's all right...I like partially melted sundaes...Your family sounds great..."

She smiled, laughing a little. "So do I! So, what about your family?"

"Well, it's just me, Mum and Dad in Domino. Dad's a doctor...an ophthalmologist. He's an eye surgeon. Mum stays home, but she has a hobby in botany and horticulture. She loves volunteering at Domino University's arboretum..."

"What's an arbortoreum??"

"Arboretum...it's a place for trees and other plants," Bastion explained.

"Oh...you mean like a big green house?"

"No, it's out in the open air..."

"Ooh...so then like a park??"

"Yes," Bastion said eagerly. "It's quite lovely to walk through. Mum took me quite a bit when I was little..."

"We have a parkway that goes all throughout the Cleveland area. It's called the 'Cleveland Metroparks'. You can drive through it and there are campgrounds, fishing spots, sledding in winter..."

"In and around the city?" he asked.

"Well, I don't think it goes through downtown. More like around it. But it cuts through all of the other cities like South Royalton."

"That sounds amazing. Around Domino, we have to drive a ways out to camp. We can fish off of docks, but as for sledding, we have to go to the foothills of the Cascades to do that..."

"Well, over in the east it's pretty easy to go sledding 'cause of all the snow. Just find a hill and go. Did you ever get snow days?"

"Almost never...it's rarely cold enough here," he explained.

"Sometimes we get too many snow days and have to stay in school longer than normal. I remember once my dad had to dig a path through the snow just we could play outside because it was up to our necks."

"Wow..." Bastion's eyes widened. "Could you build igloos or snow caves?"

"Tried building an igloo, but it didn't turn out too well. And Mom said it was too dangerous for snow caves. We did have some pretty fun snowball fights, though."

"I hear it snows at Academy Island; perhaps you can teach me about snowball fights."

Violet grinned. "I can teach all you Domino guys about snowball fights! Annie would already know since she's from Washington. Then, we can have a snowball fight!"

"That would be something. Though I've heard Seattle doesn't get snow that much," Bastion said.

She shrugged. "Well, if I have to, I'll teach her, too. The west may know all about fun in the sun, but the east knows how to have fun in the snow."

"I'll bet you'll be a splendid teacher, Violet," Bastion smiled, eating more of the melting sundae.

"And I bet you'd be a good teacher with science. I mean, you know a lot more than I do," Violet replied, taking a bite.

"Violet...aren't you a little younger than me?"

"I don't know; how old are you?" she asked.

"I'm fifteen."

"Well, then you're right. I'm fourteen."

"Ah, one year's difference, then; not bad."

"What do you mean?"

"You're pretty smart, then."

She blushed. "Not as smart as you, though. I'm just above average is all..."

"You did get skipped a grade, correct?"

"Yeah."

"So that tells me you're very smart."

"...How'd we get on the subject of how smart I was, anyway?"

"We were talking about...teaching..."

"Yeah. And I still say you'd be a great science teacher; what do you want to do when you graduate?"

Bastion looked at her. "Well...this will come as no surprise, but I wouldn't mind being in the Pro Leagues. I also intend to go to college and become a research scientist..."

"Ha! I knew it!! Science just seems to be your forte," Violet replied, grinning.

"There are some fascinating theories regarding dueling. I'd like to explore them. I confess I don't understand them..."

She blinked. "What do theories have to do with dueling?"

"Well...it's very difficult to explain..."

"Bastion, how do you duel?" Violet asked suddenly.

"Er...well...that, as I said today at lunch, I'd like to keep secret until I absolutely have to reveal it..."

She frowned. "Fine. Then I'll tell you how I duel. I go off the cards in my hand and make a quick strategy, then go with my gut feeling."

"I will admit that I am more methodical," he said. "But my strategies...they're rather like a well-played game of chess..."

"I don't make up strategies ahead of time. Because you never know when your opponent will pull something you didn't expect. Then, your strategy's shot and you have to really on your instincts."

"If you know about the duelist beforehand, you can learn how to counter him or her," he countered swiftly.

"I guess...but isn't it more fun to be surprised by your opponent than to know every move he might make? That's one of the things I love about dueling..."

"Well, I like to control variables in dueling, if I can..."

By now they'd finished most of the sundae, and Violet glanced at the clock. "We still have two hours until curfew. You want to have an old-fashioned duel right here?" she asked, grinning.

"I'm not ready yet," Bastion answered.

She sighed. "You can't try dueling on your feet for once?" Violet already knew the answer.

"I've done it before, but...I prefer knowing my opponent. You'll see..."

"All right, you win. I'll wait. Well, we might as well get going, then," Violet said, a little disappointed that he wouldn't duel.

"Yes...let's take a walk...And perhaps...er..."

"Perhaps what?" she asked as they stood.

"Would...you like to see the Ra Yellow dorm?" he asked a bit shyly for him.

Violet smiled. "Sure. It's the only one I haven't seen."

"All right then...and would...you like to see my room?" he asked.

She blushed a little. "Uh, okay. Sounds fun!"

Bastion saw the blush. "Er...that came out wrong, didn't it?"

Violet's blushed intensified. "Um, er, no! It's okay, really!!"

"Oh, that did sound wrong...I'm not...oh, bugger bugger bugger," Bastion said, now turning beet red.

She couldn't help but laugh a little, but tried to calm him down. "N-No, it's fine-haha-really! I understand-hahaha-what you meant..."

"Are...are you sure? Because I would never put you in a compromising position, you know..."

Violet sighed, clearing her throat of any remaining laughter. "I'm sure. I trust you, Bastion..."

"Oh...all right, then...Shall we go, then?"

She grinned. "Yup!"

They said goodbye to Dorothy and headed out of the main building and toward Ra Yellow. "I should warn you that Professor Sartyr may try to feed you," Bastion grinned. "He likes dabbling with recipes..."

"Oh? Is he a chef??" Violet asked excitedly.

"Yes, he is...Apparently, he studied at Le Cordon Bleu..."

Her jaw dropped. "He did?! That's where I've always wanted to go for culinary school!!"

"You like to cook as well?" he asked.

Violet nodded. "Like you, I have two dream jobs. Dueling in the Pro Leagues and becoming a famous chef with my own restaurant. I love cooking and experimenting in the kitchen..."

"Goodness...cooking is fascinating...rather like chemistry," he commented as he opened the front door to the dorms. "Woman on the floor!" he shouted.

She raised an eyebrow, surprised at his outburst and instantly confused. "Uh...what the heck was that about??"

"Just a warning to the men in this dorm so you don't accidentally see them...in the all-together," he answered, blushing.

Violet also blushed, sweat-dropping. "You don't mean...the guys here walk around like..."she stammered, shocked.

"No...but towels get dropped...happened the first morning," Bastion explained, face turning red.

"Oh...well then, uh...we were going to see your room?" Violet reminded, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, of course..." They walked down the hall without incident and came to Bastion's room. "Here we are," he said. 'Oh, she'll think me very strange...this is it.'

They entered, and she blinked a few times. There were equations covering the walls, most of which she had no idea of what they meant. "This is..."

"Bizarre?" Bastion asked, preparing himself for rejection.

"So COOL!! Man, this would make an awesome wallpaper print!" Violet exclaimed, grinning and probably shocking the teen genius.

"I...What?! You aren't weirded out?"

She laughed a little. "'Weirded out'? Bastion, I've seen weirder things at the local mall. This isn't weird, it's awesome!"

"R-really? You're the first person who hasn't been seriously questioning my sanity..."

"Well, that may be because a lot of people question MY sanity, but...either way, I think this makes your room unique. I mean, I've never seen anyone else with 'equation wallpaper'."

"Er...this isn't wallpaper..."

"I know, I know. I'm joking, silly!"

"Okay...But you really like it?" he asked, astonished.

She turned to him, brow raised. "How many times do I have to say it before you'll stop asking? Yes! It's cool!! So stop worrying!" Violet answered with a grin.

"I'm sorry, Violet...I'm just not used to the acceptance of this..." he admitted.

"It's okay! I don't know why people find it so weird. I mean, everyone has certain quirky habits, right? And lots of them are worse than just writing on the walls."

"What's your quirky habit, if you don't mind my asking?" he asked, getting her to sit down in a comfortable chair while he sat in his office chair next to his computer.

Violet leaned back, thinking for a few moments. "Well...I guess the fact that I bang my head on the wall when I'm frustrated or have a headache. But, the whole family does that; earned the nickname the 'Haverbrook Cure-All'," she explained.

"Ouch...that sounds painful!"

She shrugged. "Not really. It might be because all Haverbrooks have hard heads or something, I don't know. Whenever anyone else tries it they usually get a worse headache or even a concussion if they do it hard enough."

"Perhaps I should find an MRI to determine that," Bastion answered half-jokingly.

For once, Violet knew what he meant, and laughed a little. "You could try! I can't really think of any other quirks except...oh!! I can only mix certain foods together. Otherwise, I have to eat each one at a time during a meal."

"Such as?"

"Well, one food I actually prefer to mix together is roast beef, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Especially if it's sliced thin because you can make a sort of roll-up by putting the mashed potatoes and gravy on the roast beef and...oh, sorry. I'm rambling, aren't I?" she asked, blushing.

"I don't mind," Bastion said. "And...I've been known to do the same thing."

Violet grinned. "Guess we both just don't know when to stop talking sometimes."

"True...and I make roast beef roll-ups, too..."

She blinked. "You do? Really?? I've never heard of anyone else doing it before..."

Bastion nodded. "Sometimes, I eat while I'm at my desk and it makes sense to eat such a meal that way."

"The problem is it's still kind of messy, especially if you don't close the back. Then, all the mashed potatoes come out when you take a bite from the front."

"Ah, yes...I've done that, too..." Bastion grinned sheepishly. "Fortunately I eat over the plate."

"I forgot to do that once...it was hard getting that stain out of my jeans."

"It was hard one time...getting it off the screen..."

She blinked. "How...did you get it on the screen??"

"I bit down too hard..."

"And it actually squirted out with enough force to hit the screen?!"

"Yes!" Bastion stated, laughing.

Violet was laughing as well, but then noticed the time. "Oh! There's only half an hour left until curfew!!"

"Oh, my, is it that late all ready? Well, should I walk you back to Obelisk?"

"Only if you want to. I don't want you to have to risk getting caught after curfew..."

"We can get there and I can get back quickly. Plus..." Bastion lowered his voice conspiratorially, "I know a way in here..."

"Oh? You do??"

"Yeah...an upperclassman filled me in..."

"Can you tell me?" she asked, smirking.

"Do you solemnly swear, under penalty of eating dirt, not to tell anyone, especially Dr. Crowler?"

"Eating...dirt...? Uh, right. But of course I won't tell Crowler! You think I don't have stuff planned for him already?"

"What? Oh...you wish to prank him," Bastion had a naughty look on his face.

Violet had thought the Ra genius wasn't capable of such an expression. "Yeah. Annie's planning some, too. I used to prank my brother all the time."

"Already? May I ask why?" he asked.

"Apparently, he ticked her off in the very first class. Something about Obelisk favoritism..."

"Oh? She's angry at that?" Bastion asked. "Why?"

"I don't know. I think it had something to do with Syrus..."

"Syrus? Oh, they've just become friends...He seemed a little shaken today...Did something happen last night? I heard a few girls talking..."

Violet wasn't sure she should tell him, but then smirked. "I'll tell you what happened if you tell me about that secret entrance. And we both swear not to tell anyone else, especially Crowler."

"That's a fair trade..." Bastion led her outside and around the back of the building. "This is a service door. We can get in with our room pass codes."

"Ooh, cool! Well, my turn. See, he kind of got caught outside the girls' dorms. Apparently, a fake love letter told him to go there..."

"Fake love letter? Then what happened?"

"Alexis and some of the other girls kind of...'captured' him. She dueled Jaden, and since he won they let both guys go and promised not to tell on them trespassing. Annie got kind of mad..."

"If she got angry with Dr. Crowler for favoritism...I can imagine..."

Violet suddenly remembered what time it was. "Oh, man! Now we have even less time to get back!!"

Bastion looked at his watch. "Here, climb on my back!"

She blinked. "Wait, you want me to what?!"

"Climb on my back...I can carry you!"

Violet blushed a little, but really didn't want to be locked out. "Okay then," she replied, climbing up onto his back.

He picked her up and ran down the path at top speed. They got to Obelisk with 15 minutes to spare. "There...you...are," Bastion said, breathing a little bit heavy.

She quickly got off. "Wow...you're a lot stronger than you look, Bastion. You were able to carry me and run so fast..."

"Yeah...well...shall I see you in class tomorrow?"

Violet smiled. "Of course! I had a lot of fun, Bastion. Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

"Of course...good night, Violet...see you tomorrow!" Bastion said, getting ready to take off.

On impulse, she stepped forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Violet blushed when she realized exactly what she'd done, and quickly ran off. 'Oh, geez. That was so forward! Maybe he'll take it as a friendly gesture...?' she wondered nervously.

Bastion felt the peck on the cheek. He was a little stunned but did accept it as merely friendly. He made it back to the Ra dorms in time and headed to his room. "She's definitely a friend," he said to himself as he got his sweaty top off and headed for the showers.

Violet made it back to the room she shared with Annie and sighed, going over to practically collapse onto her bed. "That was...interesting," she muttered tiredly.

"Interesting?" Annie asked, coming back from the bathroom. "How'd it go?"

"Well, we talked as we shared a sundae. It turns out that when it comes to school life, we had some more in common than I thought..."

"Yeah? Really? Like what?" Annie wondered.

"Well, for one, we're both smarter than most people. For another thing, we both had problems fitting in. Thing is, I...kind of told him about what happened," Violet explained, frowning.

"You did? You told him about...that creep?" Annie didn't like Mike at all and it showed in her expression.

"Y-Yeah...you know, Bastion said he'd 'tell him the proper way to treat a lady' if he ever bothered me again..."

"He's nice...that and the British accent makes him seem more proper. I think he'd do it, Violet...I just wonder about his deck and dueling style..."

"Well, from what I gathered, he uses some kind of science-based deck. His strategy is made before-hand and he thinks of ways to counter his opponent's possible moves by studying their cards. I even saw his room," she replied, smiling.

"You...saw...his room? Oh my gosh!" Annie squealed.

Violet blinked, sweat-dropping at the reaction. "W-What?"

"Violet...I think he likes you!"

Violet blushed. "Annie, just 'cause he showed me his room, that doesn't mean he could...uh..." Her blush reddened.

"Did he say anything that might be construed as interest?"

"Con...what...?"

"Construed means taken."

"Oh. Well, uh, there was this one thing he said," she mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"H-He said we could just be friends...for now..." The last part was barely audible, Violet's blush returning full-force.

"For now...Oh...he's the type that might take things slow. Interesting," Annie said.

Violet's blush intensified as she gawked at her roommate. "H-Hey! Don't just analyze him!! Especially when it comes to stuff like this..."

Annie frowned a little. "Violet, I'm not. I think that's great. I'll bet he wants to give you time..."

Violet looked away, remembering her earlier hesitance. "I...I just don't know. He may not seem the type to do it, but...I don't know if I can handle it a second time..."

Annie walked gently over to her friend and put an arm around her. "He won't hurt you. I just have this feeling he wouldn't hurt you."

She glanced at Annie, fingers clutching the blankets. "I guess so...I just hope when the time comes, we're not wrong..."

"I don't think we will be...Violet, you believe in the concept that right actions lead to good things, right?"

Violet nodded. "Yeah..."

"You've done good things and I think...you're about to get a lot of good things..."

"I suppose so. We won't really know until we get there, though."

"Yeah...I'll be glad to see Bastion in action in a duel."

"I want to duel him myself. He said he can't right now; probably still working on how he thinks he can beat me."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Annie agreed.

"Well, I'll just stick to what I always do in a duel. And that includes no before-hand preparation at all..." Violet replied going to her dresser to find some pajamas.

"Okay! And I'll be ready for my stuff...We'll see him duel soon, I'm sure!"

"Well, I hope the first person he duels is me!" she called, going into the bathroom.

Annie and Violet climbed into bed, and over the next few weeks learned more about Bastion Misawa.

And then the day came when Annie came running up to Violet after a class. "Violet...Bastion's dueling Chazz!"

_Cliffhanger, though we know what will happen. Next time, what happened when Bastion dueled Chazz. It may be a little bit different than what we saw, but these authors hope you enjoy it, nevertheless. Next time! Chaos Theory Part III…the final chapter in the Bastion/Violet arc. Until next time, read and review and stay tuned! Thank you!_


	6. Chaos Theory Part III

Chaos Theory Part III

_Here is the final chapter of Chaos Theory. We don't own GX, but we own our OCs and this story idea._

"Violet...Bastion's dueling Chazz!" It was late in the afternoon when Annie came running up to Violet.

Violet had been the snack shop, having decided to finally try the Japanese-style rice balls they made there. Her jaw dropped in shock at Annie's exclamation. "He's what?!"

"Bastion's dueling Chazz and it's for him to switch places with Chazz in the dorms!"

Violet's eyes widened. If Bastion won this duel, then he'd be practically next door! "When's the duel going to happen??"

"Tomorrow morning! This is going to be incredible!"

Violet sighed. "I wanted to duel him first, though..."

"It's okay, Violet...you'll duel him soon enough...and he might just be wearing blue when you do!" Annie said with a grin.

The purple-head smiled. "Yeah...oh, look! There's Chazz!! He looks...mad..." Violet blinked as the gloomy-looking Obelisk stormed past the snack shop

"Hey, Chazz!" Annie greeted.

"Stuff it, Hanson!" the raven-haired Obelisk Blue boy shouted. His eyes had anger in them, but also pain.

Now, Violet didn't care much that Chazz was in a bad mood, but he crossed the line when he said that. "Hey! Mr. Moody!!" she yelled. Violet stomped over to him, own eyes now filled with obvious anger. "Don't talk to my best bud like that just 'cause you're in a bad mood! She was just saying hi!!"

"Can it! I have worse stuff to worry about right now, Haverbrook!"

"You know, my name is Violet, Chazz! You don't have to go being so rude just 'cause you're worried Bastion'll beat you!!"

Chazz turned back at her. "Well, I'm planning to beat him tomorrow! I have to!"

"Why? Ra's not all that bad, y'know. I mean, it's just a duel! Can't you relax and just have fun with it??" Violet couldn't see what his problem was.

"NO!" Chazz yelled and ran off.

But not before Annie saw his eyes. "Violet...something's wrong..." she whispered.

The other girl blinked, looking at her best friend. "Yeah, I know. Something's putting a ton of pressure on him for some reason..."

"Yeah..." Annie said, concerned. "He was...scared..."

"The problem is, knowing Chazz, he's not going to tell us what's wrong if we just ask..."

"I know..." Annie sighed.

"He's gonna be a Ra wimp tomorrow," said the kid with the Tennessee accent that had made Annie so mad the first day of class.

"What did you say, Terry?" she growled.

"He don't belong with the Blues no more!" he laughed.

"Aren't you his friend?" she asked in horror.

"Not anymore! He's a loser!"

Violet growled, remembering how her old school had been full of these kinds of people. She promptly sidestepped around the unsuspecting Obelisk and gave him one of her atomic wedgies. "Who's a loser now?! You big meanie!"

"OW!" Terry yelled, now in extreme pain. "What was that for?"

"Being a jerk!" Annie said. "Let's go, Violet! And go see Miss Fontaine, Terry...the last guy who ticked off Violet required forceps to fix his briefs..."

Violet smirked, following Annie as the Obelisk boy awkwardly ran off. "Man, it's no wonder he's so untrusting. His 'friends' dropped him like yesterday's meatloaf after he lost one duel."

"Yeah...I wouldn't like to be him...I heard he doesn't have parents."

Violet frowned. "He doesn't...?"

"No...That's what I found out from my dad...He knows about Chazz's brothers," Annie sighed.

"He has brothers??"

"Yeah, two big brothers. They're a lot older than him. One of them is planning to run for the Senate in two years...the other is big on Wall Street."

"Oh...that kind of explains his cockiness at the beginning of the year..."

"Yeah...He must feel he has to be like them..." Annie said as they walked. "I just wish we could do something..."

"We could if he was more open. But you saw what he did when you just said hi..."

"Yeah...all we can do is wait..." Annie sighed again.

They waited all day. Bastion had gone down to Slifer to sleep that night, having repainted his room that day with Jaden and Sy's help.

It was late, a little past curfew, so Violet and Annie were just relaxing before bed. Violet was in the bathroom brushing her teeth when there was a knock at the door. "Annie! Can you get that? I still need to rinse!!" she called.

"Sure!" Annie, already in her pajamas and with her teeth brushed, went to the door. "Oh, hi, Alexis! What...what happened?" she asked, seeing her friend's face.

"Annie, I need to tell you and Violet something I just saw! Is she here?" Alexis asked, a little breathless.

"Yeah...Violet! You done yet?" Annie called.

Violet poked her head into the room. "Yup! What's up, Alexis?" she greeted.

Alexis sighed. "You guys won't believe what I just saw. Chazz threw a deck into the water down at the docks!" Alexis explained, incredulous.

"What?" Annie gasped. "He didn't!"

"Do you know whose deck??" Violet asked, eyes wide.

"I don't know. I thought I might have recognized a few of the cards, but they could have been in anyone's deck. I don't think he'd just throw out his own cards. But whose deck would he want to get rid of??" she explained.

"Bastion's!" Annie breathed. "He's supposed to duel Chazz tomorrow!"

Violet's eyes went dark. "Oh no, he didn't. He did NOT do something so low!" She didn't care if it was after curfew, she wanted to go to the Obelisk guys' dorms right then and give him a piece of her mind.

"Violet, wait a sec...Alexis...did you get any of the cards?" Annie asked.

"Well, I was able to reach one of them," she replied, pulling a half-soaked card from her pocket. It was Vorse Raider, and had a few equations written on it in pen.

Violet quickly walked over, eyes going wide again. "I recognize those! They're just like the ones I saw on Bastion's wall!!"

Annie looked too. "This is Bastion's Vorse Raider...Oh, Chazz is desperate!"

Violet was positively furious. "That doesn't matter!! Throwing another duelist's deck in the ocean is just so...so...dishonorable!! It's just plain wrong!"

"It's very wrong," Annie said. "But this is scary."

Alexis blinked. "What's scary??"

"Alexis...if he's desperate enough to steal and trash Bastion's deck...what else might he think of doing?" Annie asked worriedly.

The Queen of Obelisk Blue's eyes widened. "You don't think he'd get...violent, do you?"

Annie shook her head. "Not to other people..."

"Hey, shouldn't we tell Bastion about this??" Violet asked suddenly.

Annie looked conflicted. "I don't know, and Dr. Crowler's involved..."

"Right! He's the one who organized the duel!!" Alexis replied.

"Yeah, and that means...if Bastion holds back, Crowler will know it..."

"But...what if he wouldn't hold back?" Violet asked.

"Chazz'll either win or lose...I just hope Bastion has a back-up plan..."

"Yeah..."

The girls went to bed and the next day, headed to the arena where Bastion was dueling Chazz. "Oh, my...this is bad..." Annie sighed. She didn't exactly like Chazz, but to know he was dueling in such pain hurt the girl.

"I'll keep myself from kicking his butt only because I know he might have a good reason," Violet stated, still upset.

"Yeah...Alexis is with Zane..." Annie said. "She'll be there..."

"I wish I could cheer Bastion on. But I might distract him..."

"Wait until we're pretty sure of the outcome if you're worried," Annie said cheerfully.

Violet smiled. "Right!" They made their way to the dueling arena, about ten minutes early so that they could find a hiding spot in the stands.

"I prefer open duels where everyone can watch," Annie said softly as they got in and found a spot.

"Yeah, I don't see why it has to be so private..."

"I don't know..." Annie answered.

They waited, and about five minutes later Dr. Crowler entered with Chazz. Violet couldn't stop herself from sending him a burning glare. Annie saw the other boys enter with Bastion. Jaden Yuki clapped Bastion on the shoulder, Chumley Huffington stood politely and wished Bastion luck and...Annie smiled, watching Sy do the same.

And then Bastion revealed, "I have several decks!"

"That's it!" Annie whispered. "He has decks for every situation!"

Violet's jaw dropped. "So that's his secret! Sneaky devil," she whispered.

"No wonder he kept it quiet," Annie whispered enviously.

The duel started and progressed, until it finally reached the peak when Bastion summoned his Water Dragon. Violet couldn't take it anymore and she leapt from their hiding spot. "GOOO BAAASTIOOON!!"

Annie sighed. 'Oh well...' "YAY BASTION!!" she whooped, too.

And then Chazz was brought down. "This can't be," he moaned, having fallen on his knees. He was clearly in pain and looking almost frightened.

"It can, Chazz. You cheated; you lied; you lost," Bastion said clearly.

"Bastion...welcome to Obelisk Blue," Crowler said.

"No, Dr. Crowler," the Ra boy said, refusing promotion.

"He refused it...and he wants to beat Jaden first," Annie said, astonished from where she and Violet were in the stands.

"But he beat Chazz!" Violet cheered.

Violet ran down the stairs-nearly tripping in the process-and leapt onto the stage. She then promptly tackle-hugged Bastion. "Oh, my! Violet! You were here!" Bastion yelped as he was knocked to the floor.

Annie, meanwhile, moved to Chazz, who was kneeling on the floor near tears. "Chazz? Are you okay?" she asked gently, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shouted, slapping her hand away and running. Annie stood there stunned.

"Bastion, you were amazing! Now I know your secret!!" Violet stated happily.

Meanwhile, Syrus went over to Annie. "Annie? What was that about??"

Annie bit her lip, getting upset, her blue eyes tearing. "Oh...I can't help him..."

He frowned, placing a hand on her arm. "Annie...what's wrong? Please tell me..."

"Sy...Chazz was desperate...and...he's upset and I want to help him somehow...and..." Annie sat on the edge of the arena and couldn't hold the tears back.

"Annie...it'll be okay...he'll forget about this duel," Jaden said easily, coming over.

"Annie, he had it coming..." Zane added.

Syrus tensed at his brother's voice, not having noticed that he'd been watching the duel. He was actually surprised to hear his brother say so much at once. Syrus wanted to comfort Annie, though, and hugged her. "It'll be okay, Annie..."

The big girl held onto her friend for a minute. "Sy, I'm not sure it will be..."

"But, we can't be sure, right? Not until later..."

"And later..." She looked around and noticed Dr. Crowler had left. "The man-lady's lucky he's not here right now...I'd risk expulsion..." Annie had a strong sense of justice and it was telling her that Crowler deserved to pay for what he'd just done. He'd humiliated and broken Chazz and no educator had that right.

Syrus' eyes went wide. "Annie, you're not serious, are you??" he asked.

"I might be!" she growled.

Bastion immediately moved forward. "Annie...calm down, please. Why are you so angry?"

"Ask Violet...or Alexis..."

Violet sighed. "We think there was a lot of extra pressure on Chazz for some reason. Maybe it had to do with his brothers...In any case, he was desperate enough to throw your deck in the ocean."

"Then...oh, my...I was glad to beat him...but I still don't understand why Annie is so furious with Dr. Crowler..."

"Yeah, Annie...gosh!" Jaden said in surprise.

Syrus looked at Annie worriedly. "Why are you so upset, Annie?"

"It's just...Crowler had no right to do what he did...he humiliated Chazz! You can fail a student but you have no right to humiliate him!" she said with pain and fire in her voice.

"But...how..." Syrus still didn't understand.

"The duel. With his rank at stake. That's how," Violet explained.

"Yeah...Crowler's a jerk," Annie said angrily. "Excuse me...Congratulations, Bastion; I'm glad you showed 'em all you're good..." With that Annie and the others left.

Then Violet and Bastion were alone in the arena. "Well, Violet...I'm sorry, but I just couldn't take the promotion..." he apologized.

She turned to him, smiling softly. "It's okay. I understand why you didn't. I guess...you'll just have to keep carrying me when I stay over too late now won't you?" Violet smirked, giving him a wink.

"Oh...well...we'll have to decide on a case-by-case basis, won't we?" he chuckled.

Violet giggled, hugging him again. "I'm still glad you won, though. I was so mad when I thought you were going to lose 'cause of what Chazz did..."

"Well...I told you I had a secret...And keeping multiple decks is my secret, Violet..."

"Well, then maybe I should tell you a little something about my deck. You know how duelists usually have a ton of cards and change their decks for every duel?"

"Yes?" Bastion asked.

Violet grinned. "I never change my deck. Haven't changed it once since I built it."

"That's extraordinary...You must have a great deal of faith in your deck," Bastion commented.

"I guess you could say that. The way I see it is; it doesn't matter what cards you use, so long as you know how to use them. Experience is what counts, which you gain by using cards you're familiar with."

Bastion regarded her for a moment. "Perhaps I have much to learn from you, Violet Haverbrook," he said.

She couldn't help but blush a little at the compliment. "Oh, so then you don't know everything?" Violet teased.

"Of course not...I don't suppose any duelist...or any person knows it all..."

"Well, we could always learn from each other. I saw a few tricks in that duel I've never seen before."

"Oh? Such as?"

"Well, for instance, planning how to summon your monsters to get what you needed for Water Dragon..."

"Yes...well, that was chemistry," Bastion explained. And he told her of the specialties of his deck.

"I knew you used science in your deck!"

"One could say...I was blinded with science..."

Violet laughed. "Oh, I love that song! It's so funny!!" A thought passed through her head about the "she" in the song being her as Bastion sang it. This only made her laugh more.

Bastion smiled, grinned and then cracked up. "You got the joke?!"

She sighed, clearing the remaining laughter from her throat. "Of course I got it! Really, who hasn't heard that song at least once? Though, it might have helped that my parents grew-up in the 80s and blasted the music back at home and at the shop."

"Ah...have you heard anything by Weird Al, then?" he asked.

Violet gave him a "you REALLY had to ASK??" looked and smirked. "I love him! His parody songs are hilarious!!"

Bastion smiled. "Do you like 'Dare to be Stupid?'"

Violet grinned. "You bet I do! It's one of my favorite songs!! Ever heard the quote 'I reject your reality and substitute my own?'"

"Yes...Adam Savage said it...wise man," Bastion answered.

"That's practically my life philosophy."

"It might not seem entirely logical...but it seems logical to me..."

"Does everything have to be logical with you?" she asked, pouting.

"No...but it's hard for me to do without," he admitted.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that, now won't we? Logic doesn't solve everything, y'know."

"Perhaps it doesn't...but it hasn't tended to steer me wrong before..."

Violet sighed. "All right. It's only a matter of time until you learn the hard way. That's how I usually learn since I'm so stubborn..."

"Then I hope my learning the hard way comes somewhat gently..."

"Well, if it doesn't, you can use me as an aftermath cushion."

"Thank you. Now, I believe you challenged me to a duel?"

Violet blinked. "You mean we can finally have a duel??"

"If you wish," he answered, smiling. "I'd like to duel a friend."

She smiled as well. "Oh, you are so on!" And so they dueled as good friends. What they would be later depended on the future.

_And there you have it! That's how Bastion and Violet met and began to fall for each other. The third and final arc is coming up and it tells the story of how Tyson "Tyranno" Hassleberry met Rosa Jimenez. We hope that you stay tuned! In the meantime, please read and review! Thank you!_


	7. Bailan Part I

Bailan! Part I: Tyson "Tyranno" Hassleberry and Rosa Jimenez

_Welcome, everyone, to the last tale in "How We Met." This tale is about our favorite dinosaur duelist and a Spanish girl whom some of you have gotten to know and love in Peach Wookiee and 15animefreak15's other collaborative tales in our version of the Yugi-verse. So sit back and relax and enjoy "Bailan!" The first person to correctly guess the title meaning wins our giant virtual cookie!_

_**Disclaimer: We don't own GX. Trust us…We don't. Peach owns Annie Hanson; 15animefreak15 owns Rosa and Violet. They own their own version of the Yugi-verse and their interpretations. Enjoy!**_

It was the start of another school year at Duel Academy. Old students had left and new ones had come in. In the new freshman class was a Ra Yellow boy from Crawford, Texas and an Obelisk Blue girl from Calientara, Spain. One might not think that these two would have much in common, much less fall for each other, but stranger things have happened.

It was only a few minutes after dawn on the first day of classes at Duel Academy, and most of the students were catching a few last hours of sleep. One female Obelisk, however, was unable to enjoy such a luxury. She had come all the way from Spain, and was still unused to the flip in time zones. Rosa Jimenez was currently walking through one of the many paths in the forest, deciding to go on a walk since she couldn't sleep. She had olive-colored skin lightly tanned by the Mediterranean sun, and reddish-brown hair that hung in layers to her shoulders. Calm, chocolate brown eyes hid a spicy interior as she walked, uniform more than modified. She was basically wearing a blue, pale green, and white ruffled mariachi dress under the normal top.

Meanwhile, a Ra Yellow teen with tanned skin, hazel-greenish eyes and bleached white bangs and black dreadlocks partially hidden under a yellow bandana was out on his morning jog. He was from Crawford, Texas, and his name was Tyson Schwarzkopf Hassleberry, though he went by Tyranno or his surname. He was out for his morning jog.

'Can't...drop my Army trainin',' he thought as he ran. "I don't what I've been told! Duel Monsters is mighty old!" he sang out.

Rosa sighed, noticing the path reaching a three-way intersection of sorts. She wasn't used to so many trees blocking her vision, or this much shade. "Tontos árboles," Rosa muttered, accent thick as she stepped into the intersection. Now, if she had been used to having her vision blocked, she would have looked both ways before crossing the intersection. Unused to having her vision blocked, she hadn't looked and ended up stepping directly in front of the jogging teen.

Tyson wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and hit the girl head-on. "Oof! Sam Hill!" he gasped, landing on his butt. "Uh...are you all right..." and he looked at whom he'd knocked down, "miss?"

Rosa yelped, falling onto her side rather painfully. She blew a strand of hair out of her face, and turned to send a fiery glare at the boy. "Sí, no gracias a usted! Tonto chico," Rosa 

muttered the last part, flipping into a sitting position. She winced and held her side, now sore from the fall.

He offered his hand to help her up. "Miss, uh...lo siento...Me llamo es Tyranno Hassleberry..."

She took it and stood, dusting herself off. Rosa had to admit she was impressed that he spoke Spanish. "Yo hablo Inglés. I am still not used to it fully, is all. Me llamo Rosa Jimenez. Me alegro de conocerte, Senor Hassleberry," Rosa greeted, holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Miss Jimenez...I'm from Texas and it's practically a requirement to be bilingual..."

So that explained it. "Call me Rosa, por favor. What...are tú doing out so…como se dice…early?" she asked curiously.

"I'm out doin' what I'm used to doin'...I run every mornin'. What about you?"

'That explains the muscles,' she thought. "I could not sleep. Not used to the, er... 'time zones?'"

"Ah, yeah...My daddy had trouble when he came home from Japan a few years ago...he was stationed in Okinawa."

"Su padre está en el ejército?"

"Sí. My dad's a four-star general in the US Army...How about your daddy?" he asked in Spanish.

"He is a bull fighter. A matador," she replied proudly in her native language. After all, where she came from, being a matador was the highest honor.

"A matador...Wow," Tyson said, intrigued. "So...where are you from?"

"Calientara, España. Near Madrid on the coast."

"You're from Spain? Sam Hill...you're a long way from home," Tyson said in surprise, switching to English

She nodded, doing the same, albeit in a somewhat pidgin form. "It is...muy different here. For instance; all the trees. How can tú see where tú are going??"

"I...guess I'm used to it...but I'm sorry I wasn't payin' attention, Miss Rosa," he apologized.

Rosa sighed. "It is all right, really. Y just call me Rosa, por favor. No me gusta formalities." By now, the sun was fully up and it was brighter out.

"Well...Rosa...if occasional formalities come out, I apologize in advance. In Texas and in the Army, you're trained to be an officer and a gentleman with a lady...and..." He paused a moment. "I know I'm in the Ra barracks and you're in the Obelisk barracks, but would you like an escort back to your barracks?" He wasn't sure why, but this girl was interesting him.

Normally, she would have simply told him no, she could easily walk back all by herself. Rosa wasn't weak like those other girls she'd seen at the entrance exams and in the halls. But, for some reason, she said the exact opposite.

"Sí. Gracias, Senor Hassleberry," Rosa accepted, wanting to spend more time with this...rather interesting American.

"De nada," he answered. "So is this your first year, too?" he asked.

Rosa nodded as they started walking. "Si...this is your first año??" He could have passed for a second or third year in her opinion, even if he was a Ra.

"Yeah. I look kinda big, don't I?" he asked.

She grinned. "Tú are muy muscular..."

"Well...uh, my mama made sure I ate my vegetables and meat!"

Rosa sighed. "But are tú graceful?" she asked, smirking.

"Uh..." It was at this moment that he tripped over a rock.

She couldn't help but crack-up, while hefting the boy who was practically twice her size back onto his feet. "I will take that as a 'no', then..."

"Man down..." he groaned. "No...well...I can dance..."

Rosa blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah. Part of bein' an officer and a gentleman is knowin' how to dance," he answered.

She grinned. "All right. What can tú dance, then?"

"A little ballroom...and combat dancin'!" he said with a grin on his face.

"Combat...dancing...?"

"Yeah. It's also known as break dancin'."

Rosa grimaced. "Oh...that...what ballroom dancing do tú know?"

"Waltzin', the fox trot...that sort of thing..."

She frowned. "Tú do not know any...Latino dances?"

"Well...I haven't had any partners that it'd be right to do the tango, the Paso Doble, the cha-cha-cha or the mambo with...I've danced with my mama, pretty much..."

Rosa sighed. "No mariachi...?" I mean, come on, she was WEARING a mariachi dress UNDER her uniform.

"No, actually, I haven't...And I'm not too far from where mariachi bands originated...You'd think I'd try some of the dances..." he grinned sheepishly.

She grinned. "Perhaps I can teach tú, then. If tú would like..."

Tyson couldn't believe his luck. He wondered how he might go about asking this wonderful girl out to get to know her and here she was, giving him an opportunity. "I'd love it...and...maybe you'd like to join me for breakfast? General Sartyr makes some really good huevos rancheros...I know that's Mexican..."

Rosa wanted to learn more about this Texas boy, and had found the perfect way to ring him in. She smiled when he mentioned breakfast and the traditional Mexican dish. "Sí, that sounds delicioso. Some of this comida de Americana that I have eaten is...muy strange..."

"What's the weirdest thing you've had so far?" he asked as they walked. "I've eaten stuff around the world..."

She thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "Oh! The, er, 'animal crackers'. I had some on el avion y...they are not real animals...right...?" she asked nervously. Just the thought had given her quite a fright on the plane ride. Who turns animals into cookies?!

"Oh...animal crackers? Oh, no! Those are just cookies shaped like animals! They're just made out of sweet dough."

Rosa sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried," she replied.

"I ate animal crackers all the time when I was a little soldier..." he said easily. "Any other things?"

She nodded. "Perro de maize. Es it really un perro? How do they get it into el maize??" American food was very confusing, she thought as she considered corn dogs.

"Uh...Rosa...you know what a hot dog is, right?"

"Er...those pequeño round sticks of carne?" she asked.

"Sí. A corndog is just a hot dog on a stick and it's dipped in a corn batter and deep-fried."

"Ooh...comida de Americana is muy confusing."

"It can be...it's 'cause we have so many different cultures that influence our cookin'."

They'd finally reached the Ra dorm, and she sighed. "Well, at least I know what this comida is like."

"Okay! C'mon in," he said, opening the door for her.

"Hey, Hassleberry! Back from your morning jog?" a tall boy with a British accent called.

"That's right, Private Misawa. I'm back."

"And who is this?" the older boy asked.

"This here is Rosa Jimenez...She's from the Obelisk barracks...Rosa, this is Bastion Misawa," he introduced.

"Charmed," Bastion said.

Rosa raised a brow at the accent and last name, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Encantado, Senor Misawa. Are tú...British o Japanese?" she asked curiously.

"Actually," he said, shaking her hand, "I am a little of each. My mum is Japanese and my dad is half-Japanese-American and half-British."

She blinked. "Oh...interesante," Rosa smiled, but it was thwarted by a low growl from her stomach. She blushed. "Con permiso, por flavor..."

"It's all right!" Tyson said cheerfully. "Let's get in the chow line...Hey, Commander Sartyr!" he greeted his instructor.

"Ah, hello Hassleberry. I'll bet you are hungry after your jog...oh. And who is this young lady you have with you?" he greeted, smiling. Rosa caught the Spanish accent but didn't say anything.

"This is Rosa Jimenez, sir. She's from the Obelisk barracks and I asked if she'd join me for breakfast. I...ran into her during my jog," he said, blushing.

"Encantado, Señor Sartyr," she greeted, shaking his hand.

"Ah, so you are the Spanish student I've been hearing about. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jimenez. So then, would you two like a large helping of my huevos rancheros?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes, sir, I would!" Tyson said cheerfully. "Rosa?"

Rosa nodded. "Sí, gracias," she replied.

Professor Sartyr smiled and loaded up two plates, handing them to the teens. "Enjoy! And be careful, it's a little caliente!!"

"Yes, sir, thank you!" Tyson said. "Want some orange juice, Rosa...or grape juice...or apple juice? I think we even have pineapple juice..."

She raised an eyebrow. "What is a pineapple? Is it an apple that grows on pine trees??" Rosa asked, just getting some orange juice. She had encountered pineapples before, but didn't remember the English word.

"No, actually," he said. He looked around and found the fruit on a table. "This is a pineapple. It grows in Hawaii and a couple of other places that I know of. The fruit inside is yellow and kinda sweet and sour. It's really good."

"Oh, I have seen these before. Why do they call it a 'pineapple'??" she asked as they sat at the table.

"I think it's 'cause it's bumpy on the outside like a pinecone. You wouldn't want to eat a pinecone, after all..."

"All right. Then why 'apple?'"

"Probably because it's sweet and sour like an apple can be," he guessed.

"Ah, tú are bien at this," she replied, taking a bite of her eggs. Rosa blinked a few times, then shrugged. "This is not all that caliente..."

Tyson took a bite and unfortunately bit down on a jalapeño pepper piece. Tears came to his eyes and he quickly grabbed a piece of toast. He took a bite and then swallowed some orange juice. "You must have a tough tongue, Rosa! I just bit a jalapeño!"

Rosa blinked. "Ah, I used to have eating contests all the time. But we would eat far spicier peppers. Such as los habañeros. Muy delicioso y caliente," she explained simply. To prove this, Rosa took a large piece of jalapeno pepper that had slipped past Professor Sartyr and ate it with ease.

"Sam Hill," Tyson said enviously.

"Oh, bugger, you're tough!" Bastion added from his seat.

She blushed a little. "Tú get used to it when most of el comida tú eat is caliente," Rosa replied, mind wandering to wonder what "bugger" could possibly mean.

"Wow! You're as tough as Mama!" Tyson grinned.

Rosa blinked. "Tu...madre...?"

"Yeah...my mama's pretty tough...and you are too. You have to be tough to be the wife of a general."

"Or if tú live with cinco hermanos," she muttered.

"You have five brothers?" Tyson asked, catching what she said.

Rosa blushed a little, then nodded. "Sí..."

"Wow...I'm an only child," Tyson said.

"So am I," Bastion added. "It must be fun to have all of those siblings."

"Eh, it's okay, but it would have been nice to have una hermana..." Rosa had just wanted to fit in with her brothers, one of the reasons she was tougher than most girls.

"Yeah...bet you didn't play with dollies," Tyson said.

She sighed and shook her head. "More along the line of training y wrestling y helping with the farm. Sometimes I would help mi hermano make art."

"You have a brother that's into art?" Bastion asked curiously. "What type?"

"Various types. But he mostly uses industrial items. Steel, nails, wooden boards, wire," she explained.

"I'd love to see his work sometime, if you've got pictures," Tyson said. "Metal craft's lots of fun!"

Rosa nodded. "I can bring them to your dance lesson," she replied, smiling.

"I'd love that..." Tyson said.

"Dance lesson?" Bastion asked.

"I am going to teach Senor Hassleberry how to dance el mariachi. Would tú like to join the lesson, Senor Misawa?" she asked.

"Oh, yes...shall I get a partner?" he asked.

Rosa nodded. "Sí, that would be best. I will be Senor Hassleberry's partner. Tú can invite some of your other amigos if tú would like as well."

"All right, then...I just hope Violet's enthusiastic about it. Later in the week then?" Bastion asked politely.

"Well, tú can come tomorrow, if tú would like. Senor Hassleberry, I was going to start the lessons today para us."

"All right, Rosa...One-on-one sounds like fun!" Tyson said.

Bastion nodded too. "I'll see if I can possibly drag Violet. She might be able to talk Annie into it later; Annie's partner may be rather shy..."

Rosa laughed a little. "I have started un full-blown dance class!"

"You have, Rosa! The Latin Dance club'll be great!" Tyson grinned.

She smiled. Not only would Rosa get to spend some time with Hassleberry, but she would even make some friends just in the first few days.

YGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGOYGO

A few hours later, Tyson was in a very nice dance room waiting for Rosa. 'I'm gonna make a fool of myself,' he thought nervously.

A few moments later, Rosa walked in with a small stereo and a small bag. She set the items down and smiled at Hassleberry, hair pulled into a short ponytail. "Lo siento...I'm late..."

"It's all right, Rosa...I don't mind...I'm glad to learn a new dance!" he said eagerly.

"Well, first, we must make adjustments. Take off your botas y blazer," she replied. As she spoke, Rosa slipped off the constricting blazer so that she now only wore the dress.

He took off his blazer revealing a vintage Jurassic Park t-shirt and struggled with his boots. "Sam Hill, these are hard to get off!" he groaned, finally pulling one off with such force that it flew across the room and smacked the wall. "Oops...sorry..." he said, blushing.

Rosa laughed a little and walked over to him. "Sit down, I will help..."

"You sure?" he asked.

She nodded. "Mis hermanos had the same problem numerous times."

He grinned. "I've got to remind myself of that...that you've had brothers all your life and are used to helpin' them. You're so pretty...I mean...dang it," he stammered as she helped him.

Rosa blushed as she pulled off the other boot, quickly turning around to hide it. "Uh, right, are tú ready?" she stuttered, trying to force down the redness in her face.

"Si...I'm ready," he said, getting up.

She took a deep breath, finally regaining control of her facial color. "All right. First, position your arms like so..." Rosa stepped over to him, and helped him get into position. His left hand held her right, while her left hand clutched his right shoulder and his right hand held her left side. This put them in close proximity with one another instantly.

Tyson shivered slightly. 'Definitely not like dancin' with Mama...and Rosa's so pretty...' "Okay...now what?" he asked, unable to conceal the blush coming to his cheeks.

Rosa was used to being close to guys as dance partners, but something about him brought the faintest of blushes to her cheeks. "R-Right. It is very simple. Quick beat, uno-dos-tres-cuatro. Left-right-left-right. Quickly now, like me," she explained, giving an example. Rosa's heeled boots made a tapping sound on the hard flooring as she swiftly moved her feet.

Tyson managed to follow for a moment, and then stepped on her toe. "Sorry!"

She winced, shaking her foot a little to get the feeling back into her toe. "It is alright, really. Tú are only un beginner, after all..."

"I'm...I'm not usually this much of a klutz," he admitted.

"Mariachi es una danza difícil. Do not worry. Here, try again. Uno-dos-tres-cuatro, left-right-left-right..." Rosa replied, repeating the motion.

He finally got it. "There we are...I think I got it!" he grinned.

She smiled. "That is it. Now, onto the proximo step. Do what I just taught you, then push back y do it again." Rosa did the four-step move, then pulled back while holding his hands to do it again for an example.

He did it this time without stamping on her toes. "Like that?"

Rosa nodded. "Wonderful. You are getting the rhythm now. The whole thing goes like so; uno-dos-tres-cuatro, back-uno-dos-tres-cuatro, forward-uno-dos-tres-cuatro. All muy fast-paced. Now, let us try it."

He was able to do it slowly, but with more speed. "I'm as clumsy as a brontosaurus on ice skates!" he groaned.

She laughed a little. "It is all right. Do not worry, you are a fast learner. Just focus on your feet..."

"Okay..." He concentrated on his feet as she requested and got the steps fairly quickly.

Rosa grinned. "Excellente! Muy bien, Senor Hassleberry!! You learned the first move," she stated happily.

"Gracias, Rosa. And I'm glad to learn from such a pretty teacher..."

She blushed, and had she been dancing likely would have tripped. "W-Well, I believe we have time for one more move..."

"All right," he said. "I'm glad to learn!"

Rosa forced down the blush once more, returning her concentration to the lesson. "Alright. The next move is spinning. But do not worry; la chica has the harder part of it. You know how to twirl your partner?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do! I learned that in waltzing," he answered.

"Then this should be easy for tú! Simply twirl me while doing the fourth step move I taught tú. I will do the rest."

He did. "Wow...did it on the first try," he marveled.

Rosa grinned. "There is uno more move. Would you like to try it? It is the most difficult," she asked.

He nodded eagerly.

"All right. Let us start slow. Twirl me again, so that we switch places," she stated. The whole time, he had been facing the windows and she had been facing the wall. So, after the move he should be facing the wall and she should be facing the windows.

He moved with her, amazed it could be this easy. "Rosa...you're a great teacher...it took me forever to figure out this sort of stuff back in Crawford..."

Rosa blushed a little. "Well...mi madre taught me, y I taught mis hermanos," she explained. Rosa took a breath to calm the blush before continuing. "Now, do it again. But this time when tú move your feet, do it en only cuatro steps. I will do the same."

"Okay," he said, swallowing. He managed it...and then disaster struck. He slipped free of her grip thanks to his sweaty palm and hit the wall…literally. And then he crashed to the floor. "Man down," he groaned.

She kneeled down beside him, worry obvious in her expression. "Senor Hassleberry! Are tú all right?"

"I didn't hang on," he groaned.

Rosa sighed. "I was worried this would happen. Uno momento, por favor," she replied. Rosa stood and went the bag, pulling out a first-aid kit before returning. A rather nice bump was forming on Hassleberry's forehead.

"I'm a big old clumsy boy today," he sighed.

She shook her head as she pulled out some disinfectant, since the bump looked like it may have broken the skin. "No, no. Tú did muy bien for a beginner. Trust me...I'm actually surprised tú lasted this long," Rosa explained, dabbing the disinfectant on the bump with a cotton ball.

"Yeah?"

Rosa nodded, pulling out the gauze. "May I...remove your bandana?" she asked.

"Uh...okay..." He was nervous about this.

She pulled off the headband, and blinked. Rosa had thought the white had been part of the bandana, but here it was his bangs. The rest of his hair was black, and pretty messy from where it had been hidden under the bandana. He flushed nervously.

Rosa, for some reason, found the style quite cute. She tried keeping her mind off of how soft his hair was as she tied the gauze around his head. "Might I ask why tú bleached your bangs?" she asked, curious.

"So...you're goin' to think this is silly..."

"Try me."

"I wanted a combo with the bandana where I looked like a T-Rex..."

She smiled, but held back her laugh. It was indeed funny to think that someone would bleach their bangs just to go with a bandana. Since, in most other cases, it would look rather silly. "Well, even so, tú have muy soft hair," she replied. When Rosa realized what she'd said out loud, she blushed and quickly turned away to repack the medical things she'd taken from the kit.

"You think I have nice hair?" he asked.

Rosa's blush intensified and she stood, turning further away to hide it. "S-Sí," she stammered, heart racing with embarrassment.

"Well...I like your hair and your eyes," he said softly.

By now she guessed that her face probably looked like a cayenne pepper. "Gr-Gracias, Senor Hassleberry," Rosa barely choked out, still hiding her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noting her hiding her face. "Rosa...did I embarrass you? I'm sorry if I did..."

Rosa instantly turned, feeling guilty and revealing her blush. "No, no, it is all right! Do not be sorry..."

"I...dang it...I'm not bein' much of an officer and a gentleman, am I?"

She sighed, walking over to sit beside him again. "No, I'm just not used to such compliments..."

"Really? No one's told you that?" he asked.

"Well, mi madre has a few times. But I guess that mis hermanos y mi padre thought I did not want to be called 'pretty' y such because of the way I acted..."

"Well...uh...I know this is the first day we've met, but...uh...would you mind...if we hung out together?" he asked.

"Tú mean outside of the dance lessons?" she asked.

Tyson nodded. "Yeah...if that's all right with you, Rosa...I'd like to be friends...at the very least..." he said hopefully.

Rosa smiled. "All right. I would like to be your amiga, too."

"Good...So...maybe we could have snacks later...or somethin'? I'm doin' a lot of duelin'..."

She nodded. "Sounds bien. Did tú want to meet at the snack shop o...?"

"That sounds mighty fine...I've heard Commander Dorothy is really nice..."

"Okay. What time shall we meet?"

"Uh...how about 4 o'clock?" he asked.

"All right. I will see tú then," she replied, going to the door.

_So our dear Hassleberry has interest in a girl. He's supposed to see Rosa at 4 the next day. So what will happen then? You'll just have to see! So until next time, read, review and stay tuned! Thank you!_


	8. Bailan Part II

Bailan! Part II

_Welcome back, everyone to "Bailan!" Thank you very much for your reviews! No one has yet gotten the virtual cookie. So let's remind you all, readers, of how to earn it. Guess what the word "bailan" means and you win our virtual cookie! So last time, Tyson "Tyranno" Hassleberry ran into a first year Obelisk Blue girl by the name of Rosa Jimenez and they seem to really like each other. They've set up a meeting for the next day, so how will it go? Just stick around and read! _

_**Disclaimer: On the advice of our legal department, we must inform you that we do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. 15animefreak15 owns Rosa Jimenez and Violet Haverbrook, while Peach Wookiee owns Annie Hanson. The co-authors also own this selection of tales and their own version of the Yugi-verse.**_

The next day, Tyson looked forward to his meeting with Rosa as he dueled other kids. He didn't expect much of a challenge...that is until he met a Slifer Red named Jaden Yuki. He lost to Jaden, or as he later called him, the Sarge, and made friends.

"So...how do you like school so far?" Jaden asked as they sat in his Slifer dorm room.

"It's right pleasant, actually, and I've met a young lady named Rosa," Tyson explained, having told the boys his name was Hassleberry, "code name, Tyranno."

"Rosa, Hassleberry?" Jaden asked.

Syrus, who had watched the duel and now stood by Jaden, spoke up. "Bastion told me a little about her, Jay. She's a first year Obelisk from Spain and she started a Latin dance class," he explained.

"Yeah? Is it open to everybody?" Jaden asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Bastion did say that she said he could invite all of his friends..."

"Sweet! I'm inviting Lex! Hassleberry, are you meeting with Rosa later?"

"Yeah at 1600 hours today, or 4 to you civilians, just to talk..."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Syrus blinked. "Four?" He glanced at his watch with a frown. "But it's already 4:05..."

Tyson's face drained. "SAM HILL! I'M LATE!! She's gonna put me on KP duty! Bye, Sarge! Bye, Private Truesdale!" he shouted, breaking into a run.

"He runs faster than I do..." Jaden said, awed as the big boy took off out the door and out of sight. "So, Sy...are you inviting Annie?"

The blue-haired Ra blushed a little. "Yeah...I mean, we need dance partners. And I'm not really friends with any of the other girls..."

"Well, I think she'll go with you...she likes you and you like her! So have fun, Sy!" Jaden grinned.

Meanwhile, Tyson Hassleberry ran toward the snack shop, praying he hadn't ticked off a very (in his opinion) beautiful young woman. "Sam Hill...she's gonna kill me..."

Rosa sighed, taking another sip of her chocolate milkshake as she sat waiting. It was almost ten minutes passed the time they were supposed to meet, and she was getting bored. Rosa leaned back in her seat with an agitated yawn. "Stupid boy," she muttered in Spanish.

Just then, the big Ra Yellow boy came running into the room, skidded and crashed into the front of the counter. "Oh...man down..."

She blinked in surprise, then sighed again and walked over to him. "Are tú okay, Senor Hassleberry?"

"Sorry...I'm late...Miss Rosa...I was duelin'...and lost track of the time," he groaned.

"It is alright, Senor Hassleberry. Y call me Rosa, por favor. Are tú sure tú are okay?" she asked, pulling his head onto her lap.

"Yeah...I'm sorry I was late..." He blushed, realizing the position they were in. "Uh..."

Rosa had simply done this out of natural human instinct, to make him more comfortable. However, when she also realized the position they were now in, she blushed and quickly stood.

Tyson hit the ground. "Ouch..."

Her blushed intensified. "Lo siento!" Rosa kneeled down, helping him into a sitting position. 'What is wrong with me now??' she wondered.

"Sorry...I wasn't ready!" he answered. He shook his head to get equilibrium.

Rosa sighed, trying to lower her blush. "Lo siento, Senor Hassleberry. I did not mean to make your injury worse..."

"I'm all right, darlin'...oops..." He blushed fire red.

Her own blush returned in a heartbeat, and she turned away to try and hide it. 'He called me 'darlin'...I...kind of like it,' she thought, heart fluttering.

"Uh...sorry, I don't want to move too fast...I want to be an officer and a gentleman with you..."

"Move too fast with... qué?" she asked, blush intensifying. Rosa had no idea he might want more than a friendly relationship.

"Well...uh...Sam Hill...Why is this so much easier in the war movies?" Tyson groaned.

Rosa blinked, a little confused. "Qué...?"

Tyson looked in her eyes. "Look, I know we've only known each other a little more than two days...but...I think I'd like to get to know you better. And possibly as...more than friends..." He prepared himself for getting slapped.

Her eyes widened, a light blush coming to her cheeks. "Tú mean...amor...?" she asked hesitantly.

Tyson nodded nervously. "Y-yeah...if you're not okay with that yet...I understand...we only just met..."

Rosa smiled a little, belly doing back flips at the thought of being more than just friends. "O-Okay..."

"You're...not mad?" he asked, surprised.

She shook her head. "I...kind of wanted to be...more than just amigos...too..."

Tyson looked at her, his eyes wide in shocked delight. "Really, Miss Rosa?"

A vein popped out on Rosa's head, and she pushed him over. "For the last time, call me ROSA, por favor. Y sí, really."

"Wow...sorry, Rosa...It's just...well...I seem to be fallin' all over myself with you..."

She remembered the dance lesson's incident and grinned. "That just makes tú even cuter," Rosa blushed, surprised she'd just said that.

"You...think...I'm cute?"

Rosa turned her gaze to the ground, embarrassed. "S-Sí..."

"Well...I think you're beautiful..."

Her blush intensified. Rosa's heart was racing so fast, she could have kissed him. She sighed, unable to hold back any longer. 'Just kiss him!!' her mind screamed at her. So, she moved forward, and in one swift motion pressed her lips against his. Tyson's eyes widened in shock, and then half-closed in pleasure. This was his very first kiss ever. Rosa had kissed other men in her lifetime, but she had to admit this was the best one she'd ever had. It was like a combination of fire and electricity as their lips embraced, her eyes closed.

Unfortunately, the sweet moment was not to last. An Obelisk second-year boy with dark blue hair and rectangular spectacles came into the snack shop with his friends. "You have got to be kiddin' me! A Ra with an Obelisk!" Terry Rogers said in his Tennessee accent.

"Yeah, this school's goin' to the dogs!" another boy taunted.

Rosa gasped, breaking off the kiss in shock. She was blushing madly, but registered the insult after a brief moment. She stood, eyes overflowing with a fiery glare directed at the boys. Now, if there was one thing one shouldn't do, it was to make the daughter of a matador mad. Rosa cracked her knuckles, taking a few steps forward. "What was that?" she asked menacingly.

"I said...you're goin' below what's good for you," Terry said, smirking. "You'd be better to look at me..."

Oh, that did it; she was going to make that Tennessee accent a few octaves higher by the time she was through. Rosa wasn't your average girl, and she gave him a swift punch to the jaw. "How dare tú insult mi amor! I will teach tú a lesson tú will never forget!!" she yelled angrily.

"What the heck! You hussy!" Terry shouted.

That got Tyson mad. "What did you call her?! You may outrank me, but I'm gonna kick your butt back to wherever it is you live! Don't mess with Texas! Or Spain!" he growled, his eyes flashing to reptilian briefly.

"And if I do?" Terry asked cockily.

It was almost impossible for Rosa to get much angrier at this point, and she looked like an angry bull going in for the kill. "Then this will happen!" She punched Terry again, then grabbed him by the shoulders and head-butted him. "Usted estúpido idiota muchacho!" Rosa added in a few other Spanish insults after that, but too quickly to be translated.

The other boys with Terry ran away screaming like little girls. Terry fell to the ground, stunned. "Sam Hill..." Tyson said. Rosa wasn't like the girls he'd known back home.

She still had some anger left, and really needed to punch something. Rosa didn't want to break anything in the snack shop, so she quickly left to go calm down outside. "Estúpido muchacho insolente," she muttered under her breath.

"Rosa?" Tyson had followed her outside. "Darlin', are you all right? I've never seen any girl punch like that!"

Rosa took a few deep breaths, finally forcing down her anger. She turned to him, worry obvious in her eyes. "Tú probably think I'm strange...being able to do that...I understand if tú have changed your mind," she mumbled, frowning.

"No...I'm impressed!" he answered. "I think that's awesome!"

She blinked in surprise. "Tú...are...?"

"You bet I am!" Tyson answered excitedly. "I think girls should be tough and if they're pretty in the bargain, that's great! And you are tough, pretty and I'm sure you're smart too!"

Rosa blushed. "Gracias, Senor Hassleberry. Er...tú are not mad about the kiss, are tú?" she asked nervously.

"N..no...just surprised...and...it was my first, actually..."

She sighed. "I wish I could say the same. But...I have kissed a few chicos before..."

"Yeah? Well...that's okay...I've just never been lucky enough, I guess...I've always been the dino weirdo..."

Rosa frowned, placing a hand on his arm. "Tú are not a weirdo. Tú are the sweetest, most handsome, and caring chico I have ever met."

"Oh, gosh..." Tyson found himself blushing again. "And I think you're the most incredible young woman I've ever met," he smiled. "Uh, Rosa?"

She blushed again. "Sí?"

"Could...could I kiss you?" he asked shyly.

Rosa's blush increased a little, but she nodded. "S-Sí..."

"Okay, I might not be any good at this..." he admitted. He puckered up and...they bumped noses. "That's not right..."

She sighed, but wanted him to try getting it right. "Try again."

He did and actually managed to kiss her on the lips this time. But it was more of a quick kiss. "Uh...that wasn't right, either was it?" he asked sadly.

Rosa smiled a little, deciding to give him one more chance. "Tú can do it. Try once more..."

"Okay..." Again he puckered up and this time, pressed his lips to hers. This time he relaxed into it, enjoying it and making sure she enjoyed it before he let go. The warm, electric feeling had returned.

Her smile widened as she looked up at him. "There tú go...perfecto..."

"I...passed with flyin' colors?" he asked.

Rosa grinned. "Well, it could have lasted a little longer..."

"Really?" he asked. "I...wasn't sure how long was too long..."

She thought for a moment. "Usually...until tú run out of air..."

"Uh...okay...We...can try that," he said, flushing again. Rosa nodded, and pressed her lips against his. She didn't pull away, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tyson kissed back, letting her lead. She moved her lips ever so slightly, trying different positions. Rosa didn't try going further than that yet, and after a few minutes they were forced to break apart for air. "Woo-wee!" Tyson said, eyes wide. "That...was great!" he added, catching his breath.

Rosa nodded in agreement, breathless. She had no idea she would be kissing a boy only two days into the school year when she applied for Duel Academy. "So...should we go back to the snack shop, Rosa?" Tyson asked.

She blinked a few times. "Oh, sí. That is a bueno idea..."

"Yeah...I'll bet that Obelisk won't bother you again..."

"Sí. To think that he thought I would even consider being with him..."

"Yeah...talk about bein' full of himself..."

The new couple re-entered the snack shop and went to the counter. "What are tú getting, Senor Hassleberry?"

"Uh...that looks good," he said, pointing at the nacho plate. "Nachos...do you like nachos?"

Rosa smiled and nodded. "Especially with salsa, the spicier the better," she replied.

"All righty!" He ordered a big plate of the nachos which Dorothy brought out with a smile.

"So I take it you two are going out? Congratulations, kids!" she said.

Rosa blushed. "Gracias, Senora Dorothy," she replied as they took the food.

"De nada, honey, and the boys of Obelisk Blue know you aren't to be messed with!"

Rosa's blushed increased. "Oh, tú...saw that?"

"Yes, I did...and Terry's tried that before...No girl's been as pointed as you at refusing him. Good for you!"

"Gracias..." The two took the food to a nearby table and sat down to eat.

"I think Commander Dorothy's even cooler than we thought," Tyson said. "I don't think I could stand it if you ended up in the stockade for defendin' yourself..."

Rosa nodded. The thought hadn't crossed her mind until Dorothy said that she'd seen. "Si, I owe her for that," she said, taking a bite of the nachos.

"These are great nachos!" Tyson grinned.

"Senor Hassleberry, have tú ever had habanero peppers?" she asked.

"Yeah...it was a very memorable experience," he answered, blushing at the memory.

"What happened?" she asked curiously.

"Uh..." Tyson was really embarrassed now, as what had happened wasn't pretty.

Rosa smiled. "Come on, tú can tell me. I promise I will not laugh..."

"I...spent a lot of time in the latrine," he groaned.

"Oh..." She didn't laugh, but her smile broadened as if she was silently laughing. "Well, tú should have seen what happened when we had habanero eating contests..."

"Uh...if you don't mind my askin', Rosa...what happened?"

Rosa grinned. "Well, I won. But mi padre y mis hermanos ended up en a similar situation as tú. Mis padres always said I had an iron stomach when it came to comida caliente..."

"You won? Awesome! You know...I'd like to see you up against the Sarge..."

She blinked. "Sarge...?"

"Oh...sorry, he's the reason I was late! His name's Jaden Yuki, but I'm tryin' to learn from him..."

"Hmm...well, I did bring some habanero peppers with me. We could have a contest, if he is interested..."

"I'll see if he is! He loves to eat, sounds like...though he's awful skinny..."

By now they were about done with the nachos, and Rosa noticed there wasn't a clock in the snack shop. "Er, Senor Hassleberry? Do you know what time it is??" she asked.

Tyson looked at his watch. "It's 1800 hours...uh, sorry...6 PM..."

"Hmm...would you like to practice the mariachi before curfew?" Rosa offered.

"Sure! Let's do it!"

She nodded and stood. "Tú just have to learn that last move."

"All right," he answered, also standing and getting ready to head out.

They headed to the dance room, and Rosa quickly put her hair up with a hair band that had been on her wrist. She pulled off her blazer and skirt, looking just as she had the day before. "Take off your botas y blazer again..."

He did, noting it was much easier this time. "Okay..."

She got into position, finding it far easier to be closer to him now that they were a couple. "First, let's review. Let us do the push-away move I taught tú."

He did it. "This is like learning the waltz..."

"Ah, just wait until we get to la musica. Now, we will do the twirl," she replied.

"Okay," he said, as they rehearsed again.

"Bien! Now, shall we try the last move? Do tú remember how it goes??" she asked, remembering yesterday's incident.

"I...I think so...that was the one where I lost my grip and hit the wall, right?" he asked with a sheepish grin.

Rosa smiled, chuckling a little. "Sí. This time, keep the tighter grip. I will do the same. Now, slowly, easily..."

He did it this time without bodily harm. "Did I do it right?"

She nodded. "Sí, sí. Now, try doing it a bit faster..."

"Okay...hopefully this time...I don't hit a wall or make you hit a wall..."

Rosa sweat-dropped. "Do not jinx us..." He spun her perfectly, and this time did it without harm. She smiled happily, moving from the position to hug him. "Tú did it! I knew tú could!!" Rosa cheered, giving him a quick kiss.

"I'm glad...I made it..."

"Unfortunately, we cannot go to the proximo step since I do not have mi bag. But, we can try tomorrow after the first real dance class." Tomorrow was when the other couples were going to come to the class, so it'd be a bit more crowded.

"Okay...Rosa...uh, can you recommend a better outfit? I can leave off the army boots..."

"Well...perhaps a looser camisa. Y less baggy pantalones," she replied.

"Okay...I think I have somethin'..." he answered.

"Bien. I suppose we could try the entire dance before we leave, if tú would like," she offered.

Tyson nodded. "I'd love to..."

"All right. It goes push-away, pull-in, push-away, pull-in, twirl, push-away, pull-in, switch places. Comprende?" Rosa had to admit it might sound a little confusing.

"Push-away, pull-in, push-away, pull-in, twirl, push-away, pull-in, switch places...Is that right?"

She nodded. "Sí. Y remember, in Latino dances, the chico always leads."

"All right...except for the Paso Doble...the lady leads that one, really..."

Rosa smiled. "True. But this is mariachi."

"Okay...I'll lead then..."

"Then, lead away," she replied with a smile. He did, and did it almost flawlessly. He stepped a bit heavily, but knew he was getting better. Rosa pulled away to clap a little, grinning broadly. "Wonderful, Senor Hassleberry! Tú are a muy fast learner."

"Gracias," he said, flush with accomplishment.

Her grin became a smirk. "I think tú deserve a reward..."

"Uh...I do?" he asked, surprised.

Rosa nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck. She reached up to pull him into a deep kiss, his "reward". Tyson blushed and enjoyed the deep, strong kiss, content.

_Next time, Tyson and Rosa show their friends how to dance! Read and review and prepare yourselves for the final chapter of this arc and the "How We Met" collection! Until next time, thank you!_


	9. Bailan Part III

Bailan! Part III

_Well, everyone, it's been fun, but all good things must come to an end. Since no one has guessed what "bailan" means, it means, "They Dance!" And so, we bring you the final chapter of the "How We Met" series! We're pleased if you enjoyed this small series and hope you'll check out our other tales._

_Last time, Tyson (still known as Hassleberry to everyone) and Rosa had a snack at Dorothy's café and Terry Rogers was yet again an idiot. And then the young couple had a dance lesson and ended it with a passionate kiss. So what will happen when the gang has their lesson? Well, stay tuned and find out!_

_**Disclaimer: On the advice of our legal department, we must inform you that we do not own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. 15animefreak15 owns Rosa Jimenez and Violet Haverbrook, while Peach Wookiee owns Annie Hanson. The co-authors also own this selection of tales and their own version of the Yugi-verse.**_

The next day, six kids made their way to the dance room. 'Don't faint, don't faint!' Annie Hanson told herself sternly. 'You're okay...'

"Uh, are you okay, Annie?" Syrus asked, noticing her slight nervousness.

"Yeah...I'm fine, Sy..." Annie answered softly.

"Hey, Lex...are you looking forward to this?" Jaden asked in his buddy way.

Alexis nodded. "I'm always up for learning a new dance," she replied. Alexis, in truth, had been a bit flattered when Jaden had asked her to be his partner.

"Well...who better to learn something new with than a friend?" he asked casually. 'Man, that sounded lame!' he thought.

She sighed inwardly, but nodded again. "Yeah. Doing it with friends make it even more fun."

"Good..." Jaden smiled. 'Man, you're a wuss,' he chastised himself.

"So, are you looking forward to this, Violet?" Bastion asked as he walked next to Violet Haverbrook.

Violet grinned, near-bursting with excitement. "You bet I am! I love dancing!!" she answered cheerfully.

"Okay, then...I hope I don't have two left feet, my dear," he said casually.

"Well, is it all right if I have two right feet?" she asked.

"Well...we'll balance each other out."

Violet realized he had a point. "Oh! Right! I get it!!" she replied, grinning. Then, the six teens finally entered the dance room where Rosa and Hassleberry were waiting.

"Howdy, guys!" Tyson greeted easily.

"Hey, Hassleberry!" Jaden grinned.

"Hi, Hassleberry!" Bastion added.

"Hi, Hassleberry!" Annie added.

"Hola, chicos y chicas!" Rosa greeted.

"Hi. You must be Rosa," Alexis replied, the two shaking hands.

"Hi ya, Rosa! I'm Violet!!" Violet added.

"Hi, Hassleberry. Uh, hi, Rosa. I'm Syrus..."

"Hola, Rosa. Me llamo es Annie Hanson," Annie greeted, shaking Rosa's hand as well.

"Hey, Rosa! Nice to meet you! Bastion says you're really nice!" Jaden added, shaking her hand.

She grinned. "Sí, sí, a pleasure to meet you as well! Anyway, we will need to make some, eh...'adjustments' to your clothing. The chicos, remove their blazers y zapatos. The chicas, remove their blazers y skirts if they are wearing something under them," Rosa explained, she and Tyson already in the proper attire.

Annie was glad she'd worn shorts under her skirt and quickly removed the skirt. She had nice legs, she reasoned, so she didn't mind showing them off a little.

Jaden said, "Uh...zapatos?"

"Shoes, Sarge," Hassleberry said.

"Okay!" Jaden grinned.

Bastion got his shoes off easily. "Ah, that was easy."

Violet and Alexis had also worn shorts under their skirts, so didn't mind taking them off. Syrus removed his blazer and shoes like the other boys. Rosa smiled. "Bien. Now, partner up!"

Annie walked over to Sy. 'He's your friend...he's your friend...he's your friend.' She swallowed. "Sy...you ready?"

Syrus was thinking much the same thing as he nodded nervously. "Y-Yeah..." he answered.

Violet practically jumped over to Bastion, an excited grin plastered onto her face. "Let's do it!" she cheered happily.

"All right, then, Violet...Lovely," Bastion answered, offering his hand to her.

"Alexis, you ready?" Jaden asked.

Alexis smiled. "Yeah. I'm ready," she replied. Violet had taken Bastion's hand.

Seeing everyone now in pairs, Rosa nodded and turned to Tyson. "Now. Chicas, form your arms like so. Señor Hassleberry, if tú could demonstrate the chico's position?" Already knowing the dance, he'd be her partner and her assistant.

Tyson did. "This ain't square dancin', y'all...And the fella always leads!" The guys managed to do what Tyson did, but all felt uncomfortable.

'I have my hand on Alexis's hip!' Jaden thought.

'I have my hand on Violet's hip!' Bastion thought in awe and slight fear.

'Sy has his hand on my hip!' Annie thought, trying not to get too nervous.

'Jaden's holding my hand, and...his other hand is...' Alexis thought, blushing ever-so-slightly.

'Bastion's got such square shoulders, but...his hand...eep,' Violet thought, heart pounding.

'Oh, man. I can't believe where my hand is right now! And I'm so short compared to Annie...' Syrus thought nervously.

Meanwhile, Rosa and Tyson were fitting together like a hand and a glove. "Now, the mariachi is a fast dance. However, we will start slow to begin. Each move is cuatro steps; left-right-left-right. That is the basic move. Now try it with your partner, like so..." She and Tyson demonstrated the move, and the other pairs tried valiantly to copy it.

Annie stepped on Sy's toes. "Sorry!"

Jaden stepped on Alexis's toes. "Sorry!"

Bastion, however, managed to lead Violet gracefully. "Nothing to it!"

Syrus winced. "It's okay, Annie. I should have been leading," he replied. They tried again, and were able to do it right.

Alexis grimaced, shaking the feeling back into her toes. "Don't worry, Jay. Just...focus, okay?" she asked. They also tried it again, and this time were barely able to accomplish the move.

Violet grinned. "Hooray!" she cheered. In her excitement, however, she stepped on Bastion's unprotected foot.

Rosa sighed. "Er, practice that a few times. Stop when tús have done it diez times," she stated.

Annie looked at Sy. "L-let's do it!"

He nodded. After a few more stubbed toes, the three pairs had finally gotten the basic move. Rosa smiled. "Bien! Now, the proximo move. Do the cuatro steps, then pull away, but still hold hands! Do the cuatro steps again and push back, doing them once more." She and Tyson once again gave an example of the new move.

Bastion, meanwhile, shook his foot. "I'm all right...Okay, Violet, let's give it a go again, shall we?"

Meanwhile, Jaden looked at Alexis. "I wonder if Yugi had trouble dancing with his...friend..."

"Rightio!" Violet and Bastion tried the move, but their hands slipped and she fell back on her butt.

Meanwhile, Alexis sighed inwardly once more. "Learning how to dance is hard, no matter who your partner is," she replied as they did the move.

Luckily, nothing happened. Syrus's fingers twitched a little nervously. "Uh, r-ready to do this, Annie?" he asked.

"Violet, are you all right?" Bastion asked, helping his friend up.

"Yeah...it just seems like I should be able to figure this out...I'm so dumb!" Jaden groaned.

Annie nodded at Sy in the meantime. "Yeah..."

Violet winced, rubbing her now sore behind. "Yeah, you know I've been through worse. Let's try again!" she answered, determined.

Alexis sweat-dropped. "You're not dumb, Jaden. Real dancing like this takes a lot of practice to get right. Just like with anything you do...like dueling, for instance," she explained simply.

Meanwhile, Syrus tried the move with Annie, and did fine until they pushed back and he bumped into her. "Oof! Oh, uh, sorry Annie," he stuttered, blushing madly.

Jaden looked at Alexis and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah...I guess you're right...You're right about a lot of things, Lex."

Annie felt the bump against her and blushed a bit herself. "No big deal, Sy...it happens..."

Alexis blushed lightly at the compliment. "Thanks, Jay," she replied.

Syrus was able to force down some of his blush. "O-Okay, Annie," he replied.

Rosa noticed some of the fumbling and sighed. "Do that cinco times. If tús all have it right, we will move on."

"Okay!" everyone chorused and tried again.

"We can do this," Annie said, meeting Sy's eyes in determination.

"Let's...get our groove on?" Jaden said to Alexis.

Bastion looked at Violet. "Ready, my dear?"

Syrus nodded. "Yeah, we can do this..." he repeated as they danced.

Alexis couldn't help but laugh a little. "Stick to saying 'get your game on', Jay," she replied as they danced.

Violet grinned. "I'm always ready, Bastion!" she replied as they danced.

The pairs danced pretty well, though there were still accidents. Annie collided with Sy. "Ouch..."

Syrus stumbled a little, wincing. "Ow..."

Rosa decided it would be best if the pairs just practiced today, since there were still mistakes. They could learn the next move tomorrow. "All right. Each pair, work on your speed, grace y balance. Remember, the mariachi is a fast dance that requires harmony from both partners," she explained.

"Sorry, Sy," Annie apologized. "I didn't mean to whack you."

"It's okay, Annie. We'll get the hang of it," Syrus replied, smiling a little.

"Rosa darlin', I think our recruits are doin' pretty well," Tyson offered.

Rosa nodded. "Sí. They are making bien progress. And once they leave, we can work on your proximo step. There is still more to learn, Señor Hassleberry..."she explained.

"All right!" he said cheerfully.

So, the three pairs practiced for about fifteen more minutes until the dance class ended. "Tus all did wonderful! We will continue to the proximo move tomorrow!!" Rosa called as they left.

"Tomorrow? Cool!" Jaden grinned.

"All right, then! Jolly good!" Bastion added.

"Thanks, Rosa!" Annie said. "That was a fun lesson!"

"We'll be here then, you two!" Alexis called.

"Hee-hee, you said 'jolly' again, Bastion. See you two tomorrow!" Violet added.

"It was fun! You're a great teacher, Rosa!!" Syrus said. And then the couple was alone in the dance room.

"So...shall we do the final move?" Tyson asked gently.

"Well, it is not actually a move. More of a...step to getting better?" Rosa offered, digging through her bag. She was unsure of how Tyson would feel about this next part, but it was how she had danced better.

"Okay, I'm willin' to try anything once," he said.

She finally found what she was looking for, and turned back to him with a blindfold in her hands. "This proximo step will teach tú not to look at your feet while dancing..."

Tyson looked at what was in her hands. "A blindfold?"

Rosa nodded. "Do tú still want to do this?" she asked.

He nodded. "A good soldier needs to learn to work in the dark!"

"All right." She went behind him and tied the blindfold around his eyes so he couldn't see anything. Rosa then returned to his front and helped him move his hands into position. "Ready?"

"Ready...can't see a thing," he said.

Rosa sweat-dropped. "That is how it is supposed to be. Now, start with the basic step. Left-right-left-right," she replied.

"Okay..." Tyson took a deep breath and used his ears and sense of touch to sense Rosa's movements.

So far, so good. "Okay. Now it gets harder. Try the proximo move I taught tú. Left-right-left-right, pull back, left-right-left-right, push forward, left-right-left-right."

"Okay." He could mentally see her in front of him and did the movement precisely.

Rosa was a little surprised at how well he was doing. "All right, this should be a little easy. Try the twirl move yo taught tú..."

"All right, darlin'," he answered. Yet again, he drew on what he heard, sensed and felt to pull off the move, and again he did it.

All right, if he got this move right on the first try, there had to be something wrong with his blindfold. "Okay...the last move. Take it easy y focus..."

Tyson took a deep breath again. "I can do this," he said softly. He swallowed.

She smiled. "Yo se tu can, Senor Hassleberry..."

He did as he had before. He could sense her in front of him and the boundaries of the room around him, and he pulled off the move.

Rosa sighed, but decided not to question him about it. "Bien...now, can tú do the entire dance as we did yesterday?" she asked.

"All right...let's do it," he said. He held out his hand and they began.

She was amazed; they did the whole thing without a hitch. Rosa quickly removed the blindfold, the awe obvious in her eyes. "How...how did tú do that so easily??" she asked.

"I just...used my other senses..."

Rosa smiled. "Then, tú are muy skilled, Senor Hassleberry. Yo think someone deserves another reward for such bien work..."

"Aw, shucks...well, you deserve a reward too, darlin'..."

"Well, there is one way we both could get a reward," she replied knowingly.

"Okay...if the reward is...what I think..."

Rosa sighed and rolled her eyes, then reached up to pull him into a second deep kiss. This time it was a little more passionate. Tyson Schwarzkopf Hassleberry reveled in the feeling...and then pulled back, blushing.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"It's just...I love this...but...I want to be an officer and a gentleman with you, Rosa..." he said softly.

"Señor Hassleberry, we have kissed before..."

"Yeah...but...it felt stronger this time..."

"Well, the last time yo checked, it was supposed to get stronger..."

"Yeah...I've just never...experienced it like this before..."

"Well...if tú do not want to, we could always slow down..."

"Yeah...I want to date you, but...I don't want to move too fast, Rosa, darlin'..."

"All right...can yo still kiss tú?"

"Yeah...that's all right, I reckon," he answered.

She smiled. "Bien..." Rosa kissed him again, but not as passionately as the first time.

"Thanks, Rosa..." he said. "I'm...still glad we're more than friends..."

She nodded. "Me, too, mi amor..."

**THE END**

_And so this concludes "How We Met." Peach and 15animefreak15 are glad you enjoyed this small collection of tales and we hope you'll check out our other tales. So please read and review._


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